Two Talks

with Leon Brenner

Description

In this talk, Dr. Leon Brenner explores the psychoanalytic significance of the skin as a primal erogenous zone, advancing his theory of the “dermic drive.” Drawing on earlier psychoanalytic work by Esther Bick and others, Dr. Brenner positions the skin as central to psychic development, suggesting that it plays a crucial role in establishing boundaries—both bodily and psychic—that are foundational for the subject's engagement with the world. Moving beyond metaphor, he argues that the skin operates as a dynamic boundary that enables separation, a fundamental process underlying more complex psychic functions such as ideation and social interaction. Brenner's theory introduces the idea that the skin provides the first site for the formation of psychic spaces, marking distinctions between self and Other. This process, he contends, is not just a tactile or sensory phenomenon but is integral to the development of language and meaning-making. Through his focus on the skin’s libidinal role, Brenner invites a rethinking of how bodily experience shapes psychic life and its potential therapeutic implications in psychoanalysis.

Description

Dr. Leon S. Brenner’s lecture examines the concept of love through the philosophical frameworks of Lacan and Badiou. Starting with Socrates’ statement from Plato’s Symposium, “I know that I know nothing,” the lecture explores how love is understood as a transformative force in both philosophy and psychoanalysis. Brenner delves into Lacan’s expansion of Freud’s ideas, emphasizing that love serves as a crucial means to access truth and subjectivity through the Other. The central argument highlights how love, in Lacan’s and Badiou’s thought, transcends mere desire and functions as a medium for both knowledge and transformation. The lecture underscores love’s role in navigating the encounter with the Other, where difference is the underlying force.

About the Speaker

Dr. Leon S. Brenner (Ph.D.) is a psychoanalyst and psychoanalytic theorist based in Berlin, specializing in the intersection of culture and psychopathology within the Freudian and Lacanian traditions. His research spans psychoanalytic theory, subjectivity, mental health—including autism and depression—and philosophical inquiries into knowledge and identity. Brenner is the author of the bestselling book The Autistic Subject: On the Threshold of Language, which offers a Lacanian perspective on autism. He is also the founder of Lacanian Affinities Berlin (laLAB) and Unconscious Berlin, organizations that foster psychoanalytic thought and practice.

Past Events