Lacan drew inspiration from Marx's theory of surplus value and developed the concept of surplus pleasure, but kept a distance from Marxism. Sha Ou believes that there is no possibility of integration between psychoanalysis and politics, while Marxism is inclusive of Lacan's theory. From Marx to Lacan, theorists proposed interrelated theoretical insights through the concept of "surplus". Marx revealed the essence of capitalist exploitation, Marcuse discussed surplus repression, Zizek proposed surplus obedience, Lacan elaborated surplus pleasure, and supplemented and developed the theory of surplus value.

The 'surplus' clue of Marxism

Explored the evolution and application of the concept of "surplus" in Marxism and psychoanalysis. Zizek believed that Lacan's concept of surplus pleasure and Marx's concept of surplus value have the same root and origin, and are respectively related to material processes and spiritual space. Surplus value is the core of capitalist production relations, revealing the essence of exploitation, while surplus pleasure is related to the real world of the subject. Western scholars such as Zizek, Zupanxiqi, and Fink agree on the theoretical connection between the two. Marcuse proposed the concept of "surplus repression" to reveal the impact and oppression of capitalism on human beings, while Zizek's concept of "surplus obedience" refers to obedience beyond what is necessary for survival in order to obtain pleasure. Lai Xi attempted to integrate Marx's theory of surplus value with Freud's theory of sexual repression, proposing the sociology of sexual economics to address the issue of human self liberation. These theorists use Marx's concept of surplus as a model and combine it with psychoanalysis to develop their own unique theoretical directions.

Pleasure: a bridge connecting the symbolic world and the real world

Lacan drew inspiration from Marx's concept of surplus value and constructed the theory of surplus pleasure, believing that there is a connection between surplus value and surplus pleasure in the symbolic and real realms. Pleasure is the bridge between Marxism and psychoanalysis, as it is the only discourse that exists. Lacan regards pleasure as something repressed and castrated in the symbolic realm, and his understanding is divided into early and late stages. Early Lacan believed that pleasure was a remnant of crossing symbolic order, while later he believed that pleasure existed in the repetition of the signifier. Zizek emphasized that pleasure is the subject's' place ', but the subject is always disconnected from their own place. Pleasure has no purpose, but it drives the subject to speak and act. Ideological illusion is a psychological driving force in capitalist society where individuals feel an illusory importance to the big other, and ideology has a constructive and masking effect. Marx focused on how the logic of universal formal equality intervened in material inequality, while Lacan discussed the relationship between pleasure and the symbolic realm. Pleasure is the path to death, related to the drive of death, pointing towards the deviation of ontology. The ideological illusion serves as an intermediary, connecting the symbolic realm and the real realm, enabling the theoretical dialogue between psychoanalysis and Marxism to unfold.

surplus-enjoyment

Residual pleasure is a kind of happiness that individuals obtain in the process of identifying with symbolic order, which is closely related to pain. In Lacan's' master discourse formula ', object a represents residual pleasure, which is the residue of symbol castration. The surplus pleasure is related to both the real world and the symbolic world. It is the object a at the real world level, and is related to surplus value at the symbolic world level. The surplus pleasure is the driving force of the subject's desire, which coincides with the symbolic space constructed by capitalist production relations.