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Main Author:	BETTI, DIRCEU DOS SANTOS
Format:	Recurso digital
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Published:	Zenodo 2026
Online Access:	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19295928
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From the Desperate Speaker to Positivity: When Chasing One’s Tail Is Pure Potency Dirceu dos Santos Betti Psicólogo Independent Researcher E-mail <a href="mailto:ddbetti@hotmail.com">ddbetti@hotmail.com</a>   Abstract This article proposes an ontological reinterpretation of the notion of lack in psychoanalysis, shifting the theoretical axis from structural negativity to an affirmative conception of existence. Starting from the metaphor of a dog chasing its own tail, it argues that such movement does not express deficiency but vital potency. Engaging with the later teaching of Lacan, particularly the concept of the sinthome, and articulating it with Spinoza’s ontology, the paper maintains that desire should not be understood as an effect of absence but as a manifestation of the fullness of being. It is further argued that the experience of “emptiness” derives from the limits of language rather than from an ontologically deficient structure. Consequently, an ethics of affirmation is proposed, in which the subject ceases to operate under the sign of lack and comes to recognize itself as an expression of potency. Keywords Psychoanalysis; Ontology; Desire; Potency; Language; Lacan; Spinoza; Sinthome. 1. Introduction: The Dog and Its Tail Traditional psychoanalysis often revolves around the notion of “lack,” conceived as a central void structuring desire. The subject—the speaking being—is thus described as one who pursues objects of desire like a dog chasing its own tail: a circular, endless movement seemingly without resolution. In this context, the parlêtre (here echoed through the wordplay “speak-and-perish”) designates a subject exhausted by its own speech, as if existence were confined to an endless circuit of signification. The relation to the Other, mediated by language, establishes a dynamic of alienation in which the subject perceives itself as structurally incomplete. Although language constitutes a form of positivity—as developed by Betti—it remains insufficient to express the totality of the Real. Thus, the very symbolic structure that organizes the subject also delimits its potency. Moreover, there is a noticeable fixation within psychoanalytic discourse on specific phases of Lacan’s teaching, particularly those emphasizing the signifier, the symbolic/imaginative registers, and the logic of lack. However, Lacan himself advanced toward what became known as the Clinic of the Real, culminating in the formulation of the RSI (Real, Symbolic, Imaginary) and the concept of the sinthome. This paper proposes a shift: rather than interpreting the subject’s movement as an effect of deficiency, it should be understood as an expression of potency. 2. The Condemnation of the Speaker (Despair) The subject of lack is inscribed within the play of signifiers, which slide incessantly. At times, this flow stabilizes at certain anchoring points—what Lacan termed points de capiton—producing provisional fixations of meaning. However, such fixations often trap the subject in an endless search for sense. The impossibility of attaining a definitive meaning propels the subject back into the symbolic game, generating a repetitive cycle experienced as anguish. This anguish, rather than being recognized as a signal indicating new directions, is lived as torment. In this process, the subject becomes impoverished in its potency. What could expand remains confined within the structures of language. The experience of meaninglessness is frequently perceived as a devastating void, whereas it could instead be understood as a source of creation. The issue, therefore, lies not in the void itself, but in its interpretation. 3. The Ontological Turn: The Cosmos as Positivity (Betti/Spinoza) A fundamental inversion is proposed: the Cosmos contains no ontological gaps. The perception of lack is an effect of the limits of language. Aligned with Spinoza’s concept of Substance, the Cosmos is conceived as full, without absence. In this sense, desire is not lack but affirmation of being—an expression of potency. From this emerges the central insight: The dog does not run because it lacks a tail; it runs because it has a body, energy, and a tail. Movement is proof of its fullness, not its deficiency. 4. The Heresy of the Sinthome: Know-How (Savoir-Faire) In the final phase of his teaching, Lacan introduces the concept of the sinthome as a singular mode of binding the RSI registers. The symptom ceases to be merely pathological and comes to be understood as a functional mode of existence. The notion of savoir-faire (know-how) marks an ethical shift: rather than eliminating the symptom, one learns to operate with it. This transition signifies a movement from despair—wanting what one lacks—to style—affirming what one is. 5. Conclusion: The Ethics of Joy Being a subject of language does not necessarily entail being imprisoned by the logic of lack. It is possible to shift the fundamental question from “What do I lack?” to “What can I do?” This shift inaugurates an ethics of affirmation, in which the subject recognizes itself as an expression of the potency of the Cosmos. Ontological positivity thus provides the ground for an existence no longer defined by despair, but by creation. References Betti, D. D. S. (2026). The Cosmos as Positivity: Ontological Arguments on the Real and Language. Zenodo. Deleuze, G. (1988). Spinoza: Practical Philosophy (R. Hurley, Trans.). City Lights Books. (Original work published 1970). Lacan, J. (1998). The Seminar, Book XI: The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis (A. Sheridan, Trans.). W. W. Norton & Company. Lacan, J. (2016). The Seminar, Book XXIII: The Sinthome (A. R. Price, Trans.). Polity Press. Spinoza, B. (1996). Ethics (E. Curley, Trans.). Penguin Classics. (Original work published 1677).

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