Definitions HQ

The Superego (n.) in ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠Lacan's sense says 'Enjoy!' — like the Mother Superior who, instead of preaching abstinence, sings 'Climb every mountain.'

The Superego (n.) demands ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠'become like us!' precisely because it counts on your inability to do so, so it can gleefully deplore your failure.

The Superego (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠today, not the insistence of repression, judgment, taboo, and guilt, but rather it is the obscene enjoining of one to 'enjoy'.

The Superego (n.) works ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠by displacement: "Don't kill!" becomes "Don't!" ... "Kill!"

The Superego (n.) says ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠only "You shall not!" — not what — so we stand forever suspected of breaking some unknown prohibition.

The Superego (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠an injunction experienced as traumatic and senseless — a command that cannot be integrated into the subject's symbolic universe.

Superego (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the New York hotel that is totally smoke-free 'to guarantee you fully enjoy your stay' — and fines you $200 for refusing to enjoy it.

The Superego (n.) has ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠nothing to do with moral conscience: it is the anti-ethical agency, the stigmatization of our ethical betrayal.

Superego (n.) reverses ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠Kant's 'You can, because you must' into 'You must, because you can': permitted enjoyment turns necessarily into obligatory enjoyment.

The Superego (n.) code ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠is essentially spoken, in contrast to the written explicit Law: unacknowledged, unutterable in public.

Superego (n.) trap ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠of the West is Dostoevsky's 'each of us is guilty before everyone, and I more than the others': the more the West confesses its crimes, the guiltier it is made to feel.

The Superego (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a psychic system that forces us not only to 'make the free choice' to obey social sanctions, but also to see it as a choice an to enjoy it or to suffer the feeling referred to as guilt.

The Superego (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠not a pathological distortion of the true symbolic Law but its structurally unavoidable obscene stain: there is no law without superego.

The Superego's (n.) order ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠to enjoy blocks access to enjoyment more efficiently than any prohibition: the father who forbids dating pushes his son to it; the father who obscenely urges him to 'behave like a man' produces shame and impotence.

The Superego (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a psychic system that makes use of excessive feelings of guilt. This guilt, paradoxically, is at root, not a guilt it forces upon us for not obeying its orders, but rather a guilt in us over giving ground to the superego relative to our desires. In short, it shames us for being a sheep to the desires of the other.