Lacan’s Cybernetic Theory of Causality: Repetition and the Unconscious in Duncan Jones’ Source Code

Wright, Colin

Abstract

This chapter explores the intersections between the fields of Lacanian psychoanalysis and theories of the posthuman. It argues that Lacan's early engagements with cybernetics and game theory prefigured many of the questions about artificial intelligence and enhanced cognition that characterise posthuman debates. However, it also argues that Lacan's notion of the subject, and the psychic causality specific to it, adds novel perspectives to posthumanism. To explore the tensions between these positions, the chapter undertakes a Lacanian reading of the 2011 movie, Source Code, which raises precisely the issue of recursive temporality which is at the heart of Lacan's theory of psychic causality.

Citation

Wright, C. (2018). Lacan’s Cybernetic Theory of Causality: Repetition and the Unconscious in Duncan Jones’ Source Code. In S. Matviyenko, & J. Roof (Eds.), Lacan and the Posthuman (67-88). London: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76327-9_5

• Online Publication Date: May 1, 2018
• Publication Date: May 1, 2018
• Deposit Date: Jan 2, 2019
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Pages: 67-88
• Series Title: The Palgrave Lacan Series
• Series Number: 8
• Book Title: Lacan and the Posthuman
• Chapter Number: 5
• ISBN: 978-3-319-76326-2
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76327-9_5
• Keywords: Lacan, Posthuman, psychic causality, Source Code
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1439889
• Publisher URL: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-76327-9_5
• Contract Date: Jul 18, 2017