EL ENIGMA DE LA ANGUSTIA: UNA LECTURA DESDE LA FALTA

Abstract

In one of his conferences, Freud argues that anxiety is a fundamental enigma whose
resolution could provide a deeper understanding of our mental life. In line with this perspective, the purpose of this paper is to explore this enigma with the intention of
revealing what anxiety hides beyond its symptomatic manifestations. To achieve this goal,
this paper establishes a dialogue between two archetypes of anguish: the “birth trauma”
(Freud) and the concept of “original sin” (Kierkegaard). Through the analysis of these
archetypes, anxiety is discovered as a state that appears (a) in the presence of a threatening
danger; (b) in the presence of the possibility of deprivation and not in the presence of a
concrete object; (c) in the presence of the constant possibility of repeating what is
distressing; and (d) accompanied by the feeling of guilt as a burden that keeps the threat
of loss present. After the dialogue with the archetypes, the notion of anxiety emerges as a
state that reveals a point of no return in which lack is introduced. Finally, some of Lacan's
ideas are incorporated to explore what enables the incorporation of lack in psychic life,
as well as to introduce a counterpoint through his conceptualization of anxiety as “lack
of lack”.