This book explores how philosophical realisms relate to psychoanalytical conceptions of the
Real and in turn how the Lacanian framework challenges basic philosophical notions of object
and reality. The author examines how contemporary psychoanalysis might respond to the question
of ontology by taking advantage of the recent revitalization of realism in its speculative
form. While the philosophical side of the debate makes a plea for an independent ontological
consistency of the Real this book proposes a Lacanian reassessment of the definition of the
Real as 'what is foreign to subjectivity itself'. In doing so it reframes the question of the
Real in terms of what is already there beneath the supposedly linguistic constitution of
subjectivity. The book then goes on to engage the problem of cognition in the realm of Nature
qua materiality focusing on the centrality of the body as a linguistic-material hybrid. It
argues that it is possible to re-establish the theoretical dignity of Ricoeur's notion of
'suspicion' by building a dialogue between Lacanian psychoanalysis and three main domains of
inquiry: desire objects and bodily enjoyment. Borrowing from Piera Aulagnier's theory of the
Other as a word-bearer it considers the genesis of desire and sense of reality both
explainable through a hybrid framework which comprises psychoanalytical insights and material
dynamics in a comprehensive account. This created theoretical space is an opportunity for both
philosophers and psychoanalysts to rethink key Lacanian insights in light of the problem of the
Real.
