This paper questions the function that purchasing and consumption practices can have for the speaking being. So far, these practices have been little studied as such in the field of psychoanalysis and psychopathology. Based on Jacques Lacan’s teaching, we will try to clarify the logic behind those practices, by identifying in what way they can provide a subject with a false answer to the embarrassment of his desire. Then, we will also question how those practices are updated in the digital space of the contemporary world, and how they contribute to the current discontent in civilization.
Key words:
Purchasing; consumption; desire; social bond