UT Philosophy
Friday 20 November 2026 13:00 - 17:00
University of Twente Jacques Lacan Symposium
Date: 20 November 2026, 13:00-17:00
Registration: https://www.utwente.nl/en/bms/phil/forms/
Desire and/as Technology: A Lacanian Perspective
Abstract: To celebrate the publication of Ciano Aydin’s new book Engineering Desire (Routledge 2026), in this symposium we will explore the fruitful intersections between Lacanian psychoanalysis and philosophy of technology. Philosophy of technology examines how new and emerging technologies increasingly permeate all aspects of individual and societal life, thereby mediating self-experience and human relationships. Lacanian psychoanalysis presents an understanding of the human being in terms of desire, lack, enjoyment and fantasy, raising existential questions such as: who is the ‘subject’ (bluntly: ‘who am I?‘), what do they want (desire) and how do they enjoy? By foregrounding desire as a structural libidinal element of the human (technological) condition, this symposium explores in what ways Lacanian theory can shed a new light on how technologies reshape the desiring subject in our times, and how the desiring subject shapes technologies.
Program:
13:00 – Walk-in and coffee
Chair: Maaike van der Horst
13:30 – Prof. Dr. Ciano Aydin (University of Twente)
13:50 – Prof. dr. Marc De Kesel (University of Nijmegen, Co-referent)
13:55 – Willem van Lieshout (Psychoanalyst, Co-referent)
14:00 – dr. Nolen Gertz (University of Twente, Co-referent)
14:05 – Questions and discussion
Chair: Luca Possati
14:30 – Maaike van der Horst (PhD Candidate, University of Twente)
14:50 – Prof. Dr. Misha Kavka (University of Amsterdam, Co-referent)
14:55 – dr. Arjen Noordhof (Assistant Professor, University of Amsterdam) (Co-referent)
15:00 – Questions and discussion
15:30 – Coffee break
Chair: Baran Erkozon
16:00 – Michel Cents (PhD Candidate, University of Twente)
16:20 – Prof. Dr. Hub Zwart (Erasmus University Rotterdam, Co-referent)
16:25 – Dr. Lieven Jonckheere (Psychoanalyst, Co-referent)
16:30 – Questions and discussion
Chair: Michel Cents
17:00 – Baran Erkozon (PhD Candidate, University of Twente)
17:20 – Prof. Dr. Ruud Welten (Tilburg University, Co-referent)
17:25 – Dr. Luca Possati (University of Twente, Co-referent)
17:30 – Questions and discussion
17:50 – Closing of the symposium
18:00 – Drinks and snacks
