O valor relativo das ilusões no pensamento de Slavoj Zizek

Abstract

According to the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek, ideology is not only something imposed on us. Rather, ideology is our spontaneous relation to the world, and operates in a way which is homologous to Lacan’s concept of fantasy. For Lacan, one of the main sources of inspiration for Žižek’s philosophy, masks the flaws of symbolic reality: fantasy is a form of social bond which determine value and meaning to our concrete reality. Fantasy is oftentimes an unconscious illusion which makes us disregard our direct relation with socially shared reality. Žižek claims the existence of an ideological fantasy, since the ideology masks reality just like fantasy does. Starting from this analysis, Žižek perceives that we need to remain within fiction and illusion to deal with ideology. This fiction, of course, should not be an imaginary illusion. Rather it should be a symbolic illusion which includes reality within itself. Thus, one could ask: if there is no way out of ideology (because ideology is our way to relate to the world), if there is no strategy for disalienation, how can we identify and distinguish a “truthful illusion”, a “real fantasy”, from an imaginary illusion which would be imposed on us?