ABSTRACT
The ideal father should favor his children's growth, autonomy and differentiation. But in a moment of history that's characterized by the absent father, the search for the father can also be suspected of concealing a rejection of individuation, or an ingenuous attempt to entrust oneself to an outside force. The ever more conspicuous absence of the fathers and the continuing decline of paternal authority abetted the projection of the search for security onto public institutions. The need for vigorous politics concealed the need for a vigorous father. The need for the father comes to expression as a search for something, not as an act of flight. The father is the figure who least of all could find himself reflected in such a procedure, since he speaks through the voice of the project that develops in time and of the ability to defer the satisfaction of immediate needs.
