The bet in sacrifice and the implacable side of the Other

Abstract

The present paper accounts for sacrifice from the point of view of the changes caused by the introduction of theobject "a" in Lacan's theory. Sacrifice is then analyzed as being beyond alliance and exchange in order to highlight its deadly enjoyment. Thus, sacrifice is an attempt to thoroughly legitimate the Other, endowing him with the consistency he lacks. Human collaboration in the varied holocausts of the XX and XXI centuries is discussed under such a view.

sacrifice; anxiety; holocausts; enjoyment