ABSTRACT
The master’s discourse is the easiest to translate into jurisprudential concepts. To legal academics it should be recognizable as the positivist jurisprudence of H.L.A. Hart.1
S1 ⎯→ S2-— S/ a
The speaking agent is S1, the “master signifier.” In this context, it is the person or institution acting as a master. Applying Lacan to Hart, the master signifier is positive law itself. The master signifier is not necessarily an individual sovereign commanding obedience, but the position or function that must be obeyed. The addressee is designated by the matheme S2 (knowledge) because it gains knowledge, in the sense of know-how, from the experience. In the context of Hart, S2 is what he calls the “officials” who recognize the law. The hidden truth of the master discourse is S/, the barred subject. Despite his claim to power, the master has feet of clay-the Great and Powerful Oz is really the man behind the curtain. The product of the master’s discourse is the objet petit a. The master’s discourse creates itself by expelling something. Because it is missing, the expelled “thing” serves as its object cause of desire.
