Traversing the ethics of fantasy

M.A. (Philosophy)Abstract: In this paper by way of examining topics in Nietzsche as well as Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalysis, I discuss possible methods to overcome the problem of nihilism. I begin this thesis by analysing nihilism and decadence. I argue we should read nihilism and decadence alongside psychoanalytic anxiety. This allows us to view nihilism, like anxiety, as a process and an experience that we often go through. It also explains why nihilism is so often resisted, for it is accompanied by anxiety. This sets the tone of the paper, as in each chapter, I compare topics in Nietzsche’s moral philosophy and psychoanalysis. In the second chapter, I move onto a discussion of bad conscience and its relation to Freudian neurosis. I argue that we should view Nietzsche’s account of the economy of punishment and Freud’s myth of the primal father as psychic reality rather than anthropological fact. This allows us to uphold the prescience of Nietzsche and Freud’s theories whilst maintaining realistic conceptions of their, at times, outlandish ideas. By the end of the second chapter, it will be clear that humanity is in a precarious position; riddled with nihilism, decadence, anxiety, bad conscience (guilt), neurosis and discontent. I show that for Freud this is the result of the repression of Eros and Thanatos. In Nietzsche it is the result of the internalisation of power, as well as, the repressive character of Judeo-Christian morality. From there, in chapter three, we begin thinking through an ontology that is more ‘real’ than the transcendent ideals inherited from religious teachings or perhaps from Plato's philosophy. Here we will consider being as lack (Freud & Lacan) and being as surplus or production (Nietzsche, Deleuze & Guattari). Following Freud’s affinity for broad explanations, I will argue that a robust ethics ought to include both lack and production. For, it is my position that desire as lack and desire as surplus are not as opposed as one might think. Finally, I discuss three ethical frameworks through which we might create values and avoid repression. One is a Nietzschean take on sublimation. Regarding this, I suggest we use eternal recurrence as a thought experiment to help decide what we should sublimate towards. I then discuss a Lacanian sublimation in which we symbolically acknowledge the lack at the heart of being. However, I argue that these have their own shortcomings. As such I argue Alenka Zupancic provides us the best framework as it takes desire as lack and as production into account better than the other two. So too, through an analysis of Harry Potter I will show how Zupancic’s Lacanian ethic explains our moral intuitions excellently, in accordance with John Rawls’ idea of reflective equilibrium