In the second chapter of Difference and Repetition, Deleuze explores the relationship of the unconscious to the three syntheses of time that he previously outlined, in order to conceive of an unconscious that is no longer representational but rather "differential and iterative, serial, problematic, and questioning." This article examines the implications of this refoundation of the unconscious with respect to psychoanalysis. I particularly emphasize the topical, dynamic, and energetic consequenc…
Read moreIn the second chapter of Difference and Repetition, Deleuze explores the relationship of the unconscious to the three syntheses of time that he previously outlined, in order to conceive of an unconscious that is no longer representational but rather "differential and iterative, serial, problematic, and questioning." This article examines the implications of this refoundation of the unconscious with respect to psychoanalysis. I particularly emphasize the topical, dynamic, and energetic consequences of this undertaking, through which Deleuze seeks to replace Freudian metapsychology with an ontological approach to the unconscious. I show how this development is indebted to Lacan’s thematization of a symbolic order, though Deleuze offers an original interpretation of it. In doing so, I aim to situate his work within the context of a discussion with psychoanalysis that began before his doctoral thesis and whose provisional resolution would lead to his encounter with Guattari.
