THE QUEST(ION) OF ORIGIN: FREUD'S CONCEPTION OF EFFECTIVITY

THE QUEST(ION) OF ORIGIN: FREUD'S CONCEPTION OF EFFECTIVITY

在文章寫完後，我覺得有必要談一下本文寫作的脈絡，這樣可使讀者了解本文有什麼意義。本文是在結構主義遭到了以德希達為首的後結構主義者之攻擊，這樣的脈絡下寫作的。我不欲替結構主義辯護，但卻要顯示『深層結構』這個概念的合理性；而這就意味著必讀闡明『結構性因果』的意思。某些準結構主義者先將通俗所謂的『因歸根究底地決定了果』等同於『結構性因果』，然後將後者歸結為『因（結構）現（內在）於果』。這個結論雖然正確，但是過於抽象，並不能幫助我們具體了解『因歸根究底地決定了果』的意思。佛洛依德與這個問題的相干處就在於此；我認為在（按德希達所描述的）本源問題的探索及追尋本源中，佛洛依德展示了他的因果概念－－因而恰恰在具體的示範裏闡明了『結構性因果』的意思。這構成了本文的主體。假如事物沒有『深層結構』和『表層結構』的區別，那麼我們就不需要（作為理論的）科學；科學與深層結構這二個概念是密切相關的。佛洛依德的心理分析在預設『深層結構』這一點上，（相反於闡釋學者對佛洛依德的詮釋），和自然科學無異。同樣的，對文學或文本（text）的解讀也是科學－－即把它們說為深層結構的果效－－可是這和形式主義的解讀毫無共同之處：文學和其他事物或人類活動均處於類似症候的地位，而解讀（批判性科學）的目的在於自由、釋放（痊癒）。因此，除了對『結構性因果』的闡明外，就心理分析作為整體解讀策略的一環而言，佛洛依德的因果概念對文學研究是非常重要的。

It has often been noted that throughout Freud's psychoanalytical theory there is an incessant though vain quest for origin. The persistence of this desire-as it is shown in Freud's insistence on the existence and effect of primal narcissism, primal scene, primal repression, primal phantasies, and the ever-fleeting Nirvana Principle-is often understood as a structural necessity for his theory, a more that Freud has to make in order to hold all the pieces of his analyses together. Or, to put it in terms of C. S. Pierce's concept of 'abduction,' Freud's move is to generate from known facts (pathological behavior) new hypotheses (explanations for the behavior) which, though situated outside the world of observable phenomenon (behavior), can nevertheless explain the world of phenomenon (behavior). (Herein lies Freud's alleged Platonism.) In that sense, what Freud is seeking turns out to be a certain kind of empty space, not only because the origins are usually the so-called 'primal' ones which Freud himself admits to be (re-)constructions during analyses; but more importantly because the so-called origins often establish their meaning and significance only after the fact-that is, during later experiences or displaced manifestations. Interestingly, these primal concepts are intricately related to each other and all of them somehow gesture toward the common origin of human (physical and psychical) life.