This book discusses what Jacques Lacan's oeuvre contributes to our understanding of psychosis. Presenting a close reading of original texts, Stijn Vanheule proposes that Lacan's work on psychosis can best be framed in terms of four broad periods.

STIJN VANHEULE is Associate Professor in the Department of Psychoanalysis and Clinical Consulting at Ghent University, Belgium, and a Clinical Psychologist and Psychoanalyst in Private Practice. He is the author of multiple papers on Lacanian and Freudian psychoanalysis, psychoanalytic research into psychopathology, and clinical psychodiagnostics.

Acknowledgements Introduction PART I: FIRST ERA: THE AGE OF IMAGINARY IDENTIFICATION Psychosis as a Disorder at the Level of the Imaginary PART II: SECOND ERA: THE AGE OF THE SIGNIFIER Towards a Structural Study of Psychosis Foreclosure and its Vicissitudes A Novel Approach to Hallucinations Delusions Scrutinized PART III: THIRD ERA: THE AGE OF THE OBJECT A The Object a and Jouissance in Psychosis PART IV: FOURTH ERA: THE AGE OF THE KNOT Psychosis within the Logic of Knotting and Linking Bibliography Index