The lack of lack and the object of anguish

Abstract

In this paper we intend to discuss the specific nature of the object of anguish, stated by Freud as something that does not exist. With the theoretical formulation established by Lacan (in 1962-1963), of a conceptual object that escapes every significance and imaginary
apprehension, this discussion has adopted new outlines. It is all about the concept of “object a”, an object composed of pure lack, arising from
dissatisfaction. We will start with the idea of the loss of the object of satisfaction, quoted by Freud as a myth. We also intend to approximate the concept of the” object a” of the concepts of “strange” and “familiar”, espoused by Freud in 1919, to the concept of anguish, prompted by Lacan’s statement about the proximity of what is familiar in the anguish experience.