Status Updates From Reinventing the Soul: Posth...

Ruti is offering an alternative to post humanist/ constructivist theories of the subject. Her insight is that at the core of human subjectivity there is a Lacanian lack, but this lack is not exclusively a site of alienation. It is what gives rise to the subject’s power to generate meaning. Even as the signifier draws the subject into the symbolic system it can’t control.

Ruti really seems to hit her stride in the third chapter that concentrates on Lacan (with a healthy dose of Heidegger). Contains a very clear review of Lacan's thoughts (especially related it seems to me to his discussion of ethics in Seminar VII).

Very much enjoying this, but more so when Ruti stops thinking she has to justify her beliefs and just goes straight into what she wants to say. Maybe that's just part of it being her first big academic work, and the fact that she is placing her arguments in contrast to established theories (e.g., those of Judith Butler).

Oh, if I were as brave as Ms. Ruti when I myself was deciding whether to continue with my Anthropology PhD studies or skedaddle with Masters in hand and head for easier pastures. Not only does she describe a situation that feels similar to mine, but she seems to be intent on exploring topics very similar to those I was knee deep in as I was caught between post-humanist advisor and very supportive cognitive scientist.