Structured Like a Language
A multi-phase research project testing whether transformer LLMs instantiate the formal operations Lacan attributed to the unconscious — condensation, displacement, overdetermination, retroactive meaning-making — and proposing empirical methods to test that claim.
Read the full research brief · Track progress
Phase 1 — Theoretical Reconstruction
Weeks 1–10 · Not started
Produce two formal specification documents — one for the Lacanian unconscious, one for transformer architecture — then map them onto each other.
- 1.1 Lacanian Formal Properties Specification
- 1.2 Transformer Operations Specification
- 1.3 Formal Correspondence Table
Phase 2 — Literature Review & Positioning
Weeks 3–13 · Not started
Survey existing work at the intersection of psychoanalysis and AI, identify the specific gap this project fills, and engage the strongest objections.
Phase 3 — Empirical & Formal Analyses
Weeks 11–28 · Not started
The center of gravity. Generate specific, testable predictions from Lacanian theory about LLM behavior, test them, and conduct reverse analyses.
- 3.1 Five Psychoanalytic Predictions
- 3.2 Computational Illumination of Psychoanalytic Concepts
- 3.3 The Question of Lack
Phase 4 — Manuscript
Weeks 25–34 · Not started
A single, complete manuscript presenting the theoretical framework, formal mapping, empirical findings, and argument.
Phase 5 — Collaboration & Review
Weeks 31–38 · Not started
Adversarial review by experts in mechanistic interpretability, Lacanian theory, and philosophy of mind.