What follows is an edited version of a talk delivered on July 12, 2014, at the annual CFAR Conference. The theme this year was: ”Sexuality: Phantasy, Discourse and Practice”. I participated in a panel on the general subject of ”Sexuality and Phantasy”. My presentation was not prepared beforehand. This here is an edited transcription of a recording. As such, it tries, but fails in many ways, to capture the spontaneity and informality of what was said. But then, that’s the best I could do.
There you go.
Good morning.
I was wondering how to start today. I was considering the title of the panel, ”Sexuality and Phantasy”, and struggled to think. What, if anything, could I add to the subject?
I realised this. I realised that whenever I find myself thinking about Sexuality, I find myself thinking of Descartes --you know, René Descartes, the philosopher.
Of course Descartes did not, as far as I know, write about sexuality as such --or about phantasy for that matter. But he did write about the mind-body problem.
This will be my starting point today.