> This is Soc 101--role conflict. This has nothing to do with the claim that
people must be unitary subjects. There are different roles associated with
different statuses; psychoanalysis is irrelevant to understanding that.
Because philosophical attitudes are not constituted by contradictory premises, right? There is no id... no ego... no superego... the distinction between desire and fantasy is an illusion... no unconscious or conscious... to the winds with reality testing and repression, to the flames with neurosis and psychoses... off to the earth with obsession and hysteria... and into the sea with dreams, memories and language... the subject is unified, a complete (w)hole.... with a definitive psychical (whoops, doesn't exist) beginning and end. No loops, no tricks of the mind, no shadows or phantoms. We are on solid ground with the self. Clear as crystal, a diamond that does not crack: totalled.
> When I claim that people must be unitary subjects, I don't mean people must
act and think and inhabit the same status and its associated roles in every
situation. This obviously doesn't happen. Rather, there are stable roles
associated with particular stable statuses (e.g., gender, race, lawyer,
gay/straight).
These statuses are not stable. If they were stable, then kids around the schoolyard wouldn't call Joey gay.
Maybe we can talk about that. Gay is a stable category, right?
So, does Dick sleep only with other men? Have many women does Dick have to sleep with before he's not gay? If Dick sleeps with more women than men, is Dick straight? Where does het end and bi begin? If Dick says he's gay but is married and has two kids, is Dick gay? What if Dick likes football? If Dick sleeps with men but fantasizes about women, is Dick gay? Exactly which sexual position provides Dick with the adequate qualifications for him to legitimately be able to say, "Hi, I'm Dick, and I'm gay." Can a gay man be a virgin? How do you know if you aren't gay if you haven't had sex with another man?
> Perhaps my point is too simple: imagine what would happen if every time we
were asked to identify ourselves we said "it depends".
Is Ken gay?
You're damn right it depends!
Kant categorically denied that a man would satisfy his lust if the gallows awaited him after the business. Kant was wrong. It depends. Sometimes lust is only worth satisfying if the gallows await - otherwise we'd walk through the front door instead of climbing up the side of the building.
ken
PS. I flunked out of guitar lessons, ending my career as a rock star at a rather early age - although we kept the pictures. ; )