Ambiguity, Equivocation, Unconscious

Abstract

In his text L’étourdit, Lacan develops a tripartite definition of the equivocal, distinguishing between the homophonic, grammatical, and logical. Psychoanalysis, being the praxis of alleviating unconscious symptoms via the semblance that is language, depends upon the equivocity of language. This paper elucidates these three forms of ambiguity in their relevance to the clinic and the end of analysis.