Considerations on the clinical and psychopathological relevance of the notion of “supplementation”

The notion of “supplementation” is put forth by Jacques Lacan quite late in his teaching. It becomes effective following a work of many decades on the psychoanalytic treatment and theory; besides, it is also part of a larger thinking with respect to the stake and importance of the notion of “structure” in psychoanalysis. Therefore, in this paper we attempt to: 1. retrace the emergence of this notion; 2. examine the way in which it revises previous notions, without substituting for them.