Laplanchean Dialogues with Hélène Tessier

Bryan Batista-Thomas: Thank you for participating in these dialogues, Hélène. We have worked together on Laplanche's thinking for the last three years. Aside from being the Vice-President of the Conseil Scientifique de la Fondation Jean Laplanche, you are a Full Professor, psychoanalyst, and former human rights lawyer. I know you have written several papers and books on the themes of ethics, rationalism, emancipation, and epistemology in Laplanche's work. With this in mind, what are the Ethics of a Laplanchean style? How does this relate to metapsychology, clinical practice, and culture?

Hélène Tessier: I will start with the formulation of the question. I am not comfortable with talking about ethics in general. However, I am more comfortable with the adjective ethical because I would not like to substantiate ethics. Ethics and psychoanalysis are two different things. Analysis can be practiced ethically as much as science. Theory building in psychoanalysis, like metapsychological developments, can be done ethically. Ethics is a domain of its own. There are obviously ethical dimensions in Laplanche's theorizing and theory of practice. I am comfortable with discussing these ethical dimensions. I also want to emphasize the accuracy of your word “style.” It is very relevant in the context. There is indeed a Laplanche style, meaning that his thinking has a quality found in almost all his work. This style has an ethical component: dedication to clarity, precision, elegance, and coherence. It is ethical since it is the basis of his method of thinking, governed by a quest for truth.