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{{Topp}}adapt|adaptation (adaptation) {{Bottom}} ==Biological Concept==The [[concept ]] of [[adaptation ]] is a [[biology|biological ]] [[:category:concepts|concept (see BIOLOGY)]]; Org3DÃSms [[biology|organism]]s are supposed to be driven to [[adapt ]] themselves to fit the [[biology|environment]]. [[Adaptation ]] implies a [[harmonious ]] relation between the ''[[Adaptation|Innenwelt ]]'' (inner [[world]]) and ''[[adaptation|Umwelt ]]'' (surrounding world).EGO==Ego-PSYCHOLOGY Psychology==[[Ego-psychology]] applies this the [[biological ]] concept of [[adaptation]] to [[psychoanalysis]], explaining [[neurotic symptoms ]] [[symptom]]s in [[terms ]] of [[maladaptive behaviour ]] [[behavior]] (such as applying archaic defence mechanisms [[defense mechanism]]s in contexts where they are no longer appropriate), and arguing that the aim of [[psychoanalytic treatment ]] is to [[help ]] the [[patient ]] [[adapt ]] to [[reality]]. [[Ego-psychology]] explain [[neurotic]] [[symptom]]s in terms of maladaptive [[behaviour]]. [[Ego-psychology]] argues that the aim of [[psychoanalytic]] [[treatment]] is to help the [[patient]] adapt to [[reality]]. ==Jacques Lacan==From his early [[work ]] in the 1930s on, [[Lacan ]] opposes any attempt to explain human phenomena in terms of [[adaptation (see Lacan, 1938: 24; ]].<ref>{{Ec, }} p.158; {{Ec, }} p. 171-2). </ref> This forms a constant theme in [[Lacan]]'s work; in 1955, for example, he states that '"the [[dimension ]] discovered by [[analysis ]] is the opposite of anything which progresses through adaptation' (."<ref>{{S2, }} p. 86). </ref>  He takes this view for several reasons: ===1. Reality===The stress on the [[adaptation|adaptive function ]] of the [[ego ]] misses the [[ego]]'s [[alienation|alienating function ]] and is based on a simplistic and unproblematic view of '"[[reality']]". [[Reality ]] is not a simple, [[objective ]] [[thing ]] to which the [[ego ]] must [[adapt]], but is itself a product of the [[ego]]'s fictional [[fiction]]al [[mirror stage|misrepresentations ]] and projections[[projection]]s.2. <blockquote>"[Therefore '] it is not a question of adapting to it [reality], but of showing it [the ego] that it is only too well adapted, since it assists in the [[construction ]] of that very reality' (."<ref>{{E, }} p. 236). </ref></blockquote> The task of [[psychoanalysis ]] is rather to subvert the [[illusory ]] [[sense ]] of [[adaptation]], since this blocks access to the [[unconscious]].3===2. Analyst===To set [[adaptation ]] as the [[aim ]] of the [[treatment ]] is to turn the [[analyst ]] into the arbiter of the [[patient]]'s [[adaptation]]. The [[analyst]]'s own '"relation to reality thus goes without saying' (."<ref>{{E, }} p.230); it </ref> It is automatically assumed that the [[analyst ]] is better adapted than the [[patient]]. This inevitably turns [[psychoanalysis ]] into the exercise of [[power]], in which the [[analyst ]] forces his own [[particular ]] view of [[reality ]] onto the [[patient]]; this is not [[psychoanalysis ]] but SUGGESTION[[suggestion]].4===3. Gap===The [[idea ]] of [[harmony ]] between the [[biology|organism ]] and its [[biology|environment]], implicit in the concept of [[adaptation]], is inapplicable to [[human beings ]] [[being]]s because [[human|man]]'s inscription in the [[symbolic ]] [[order ]] [[nature|de-naturalises ]] him and means that '"in man the [[imaginary ]] relation [to nature] has deviated'". Whereas '"all [[animal ]] machines are strictly riveted to the [[conditions ]] of the [[external ]] [[environment' (]],"<ref>{{S2, }} p. 322), </ref> in the [[human ]] [[being ]] there is '"a certain biological gap' (."<ref>{{S2, }} p. 323; see oAP). </ref> Any attempt to regain [[harmony ]] with [[nature ]] overlooks the essentially excessive [[drive ]] potential summed up in the [[death drive]]. [[Human beings ]] [[being]]s are essentially [[maladaptive]]. ==Treatment==[[Lacan ]] argues that the stress put by [[ego-psychology ]] on the [[adaptation ]] of the [[patient ]] to [[reality ]] reduces [[psychoanalysis ]] to an [[instrument ]] of [[social ]] [[control ]] and conformity. He sees this as a [[complete ]] [[betrayal ]] of [[psychoanalysis]], which he regards as an essentially subversive [[practice]]. ==United States==[[Lacan ]] regards it as significant that the [[adaptation ]] theme was developed by the European psychoanalysts [[psychoanalyst]]s who had emigrated to the USA in the late 1930s; these analysts . These [[analyst]]s felt not only that they had to [[adapt ]] to [[life ]] in the USA, but also that they had to [[adapt ]] [[psychoanalysis ]] to American tastes (.<ref>{{E, l15)}} p.115</ref> ==See Also=={{See}}* [[Analyst]]* [[Biology]]* [[Death drive]]||* [[Ego]]* [[Ego-psychology]]* [[Factor C]]||* [[Gap]]* [[Nature]]* [[Neurosis]]||* [[Pleasure principle]]* [[Psychoanalysis]]* [[Suggestion]]||* [[Symptom]]* [[Treatment]]* [[Unconscious]]{{Also}} ==References==<div style="font-size:11px" class="references-small"><references/></div> [[Category:Psychoanalysis]][[Category:Sigmund Freud]][[Category:Jacques Lacan]][[Category:Practice]][[Category:Treatment]][[Category:Science]][[Category:Dictionary]][[Category:Concepts]][[Category:Terms]]{{OK}} __NOTOC__