This lucid, philosophically sophisticated book is the first account of Lacan's development in its intellectual-historical context, the first account of the philosophical significance of his theory, and to date the best introduction to his thought. Beacuse Lacan is—the author argues—a superme assimilator, a son of his times, and thus the most representative French intellectual since the 1950's, the book is also a critical introduction to the philosophical background of recent French thought.

Written by a young French theorist raised in an intellectual atmosphere dominated by Lacan, this book is an attempt to reflect on the presuppositions of French contemporary thought while providing the elements of a critique of what Lacan meant by psychoanalysis.