[[Jacques Lacan]] begins to use [[algebraic]] [[symbol]]s in 1955 -- in an attempt to [[formalize]] [[psychoanalysis]].
===Formalization of Psychoanalysis=== Three main reasons lie behind this attempt at [[formalization]]. :1. <center>''See [[Formalization]] is necessary '' for [[psychoanalysis]] to acquire [[scientific]] status. :Just as [[Claude Lévi-Strauss]] uses quasi-mathematical formulae in an attempt to set [[anthropology]] on a more [[scientific]] footing, [[Lacan]] attempts to do the same for [[psychoanalysis]] :[[Lacan]] used quasi-mathematical formulae in an attempt to set [[psychoanalysis]] on a more [[scientific]] footing. :2. [[Formalization]] can provide a core of [[psychoanalytic theory]] which can be transmitted integrally even to those who have never experienced [[psychoanalytic treatment]]. :The [[matheme|formulae]] thus become an essential aspect of the [[training]] of [[psychoanalysis]] which take their place alongside [[training|training analysis]] as a medium for the transmission of [[psychoanalytic]] [[knowledge]]. :3. [[Formalization]] of [[psychoanalytic theory]] in terms of [[algebraic]] [[symbols]] is a means of preventing [[knowledge|intuitive understanding]], which [[Lacan]] regards as an [[imaginary]] [[lure]] which hinders access to the [[symbolic]]. :Rather than being understood in an intuitive way, the [[algebraic]] [[symbols]] are to be used, manipulated and read in various different ways.<ref>{{E}} p.313''</refcenter>
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