The arbitrariness of power

Contemporary clinical practice constantly confronts us with this uncomfortable truth: the power of the master's discourse resides not in its rationality or justice, but in its pure arbitrariness. It doesn't need to make sense to function; it functions precisely because it can dispense with meaning. Its authority doesn't emerge from the logic of its arguments but from its ability to impose itself without needing to argue.

What makes this discourse effective is precisely its indifference to coherence or justification. The master doesn't say "this is so because..." but simply "this is so." The absence of justification isn't a weakness of this discourse but its strength: by not depending on reasons, it becomes immune to rational questioning. Power sustains itself in its own exercise, not in its legitimacy.

The paradox is that the more arbitrary the command, the more effective it becomes. The master's discourse produces obedience not despite its senselessness, but because of it. Its ability to reign doesn't depend on its content but on its pure form of imposition. It's a discourse that seeks not to convince but to subdue, aspires not to truth but to dominion.