|
|
(2 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown) |
Line 1: |
Line 1: |
− | [[Image:Lacan-opticalmodel.jpg]]
| |
− | [[optical model]] <ref>[[French]]: ''[[modèle optique]]''</ref>
| |
| | | |
− | ==Sigmund Freud==
| |
− | [[Freud]] compares the psyche with an optical apparatus such as a microscope or a camera in [[The Interpretation of Dreams]].<ref>Freud. 1900a: SE V. p.536</ref>
| |
− |
| |
− | ==Jacques Lacan==
| |
− | [[Lacan]] also uses optical apparatuses at several points in his work.
| |
− |
| |
− | For example, he uses the [[camera]] to provide a "materialist definition of the phenomenon of consciousness."<ref>{{S2}} Chapter 4</ref>
| |
− |
| |
− | [[Lacan]] argues that [[optics]] is a useful way of approaching the [[structure]] of the [[psyche]] because [[images]] play an important role in [[psychic]] [[structure]] <ref>{{Sl}} p.76</ref>.
| |
− |
| |
− | However, like [[Freud]], [[Lacan]] warns that such an approach can never provide more than rather crude analogies, since [[optical]] [[image]]s are not the same as the kind of [[image]]s which are the [[object]] of [[psychoanalytic]] [[research]].
| |
− |
| |
− | For this reason, [[Lacan]] soon replaces [[optical]] [[image]]s with [[topological]] [[figures]] which are intended to prevent [[imaginary]] [[capture]].
| |
− |
| |
− | Nevertheless, as [[Freud]] said of his own [[optical model]]s, "we need the assistance of provisional ideas."<ref>Freud, 1900: 536</ref>.
| |
− |
| |
− | ==The Optical Model==
| |
− | The [[optical model]] first appears in 1954 <ref>{{Sl}} p.124</ref>, and is reproduced in the [[seminar]], [[Le transfert]], on [[transference]] (1960-1), and elsewhere.
| |
− |
| |
− | It is basically an optical experiment which is constructed by means
| |
− | of a plane [[mirror]] and a concave [[mirror]].
| |
− |
| |
− | The concave [[mirror]] produces a real [[image]] of an inverted flower-pot, hidden from view by a box, which is then reflected in the plane [[mirror]] to produce a [[virtual]] [[image]].
| |
− |
| |
− | This [[virtual]] [[image]] is only [[visible]] to a [[subject]] who places himself within a particular area of [[vision]].
| |
− |
| |
− | ==Examples==
| |
− | [[Lacan]] uses the [[opticall model]] to illustrate various points.
| |
− |
| |
− | Two of the most important points are the [[structuring]] role of the [[symbolic]] [[order]] and the function of the [[ego-ideal]].
| |
− |
| |
− | ===Symbolic Structure===
| |
− |
| |
− | 1.The [[optical model]] illustrates the way that the position of the [[subject]] in the symbolic order (represented by the angle of the plane mirror) determines the way in which the [[imaginary]] is articulated with the [[real]].
| |
− |
| |
− | "My position in the imaginary is only conceivable insofar as one finds a guide beyond the imaginary, on the level of the symbolic plane."<ref>{{Sl}} p.141</ref>
| |
− |
| |
− | The [[optical model]] thus illustrates the primary importance of the [[symbolic]] [[order]] in [[structuring]] the [[imaginary]].
| |
− |
| |
− | The action of [[psychoanalytic]] [[treatment]] can be compared to the
| |
− | rotation of the plane [[mirror]], which alters the position of the [[subject]] in the [[symbolic]].
| |
− |
| |
− | ===Ego Ideal===
| |
− | 2.The [[optical model]] also illustrates the function of the [[ideal ego]], which is represented in the diagram as the [[real]] [[image]], in opposition to the [[ego-ideal]], which is the [[symbolic]] guide governing the angle of the [[mirror]] and hence the position of the [[subject]].<ref>{{Sl}} p.141</ref>.
| |
− |
| |
− | ==Figure==
| |
− | Figure 12 The optical model
| |
− | Source: Jacques Lacan, The Seminar. Book I. Freud's Papers on Technique, trans. with notes by John Forrester, New York: Norton: Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
| |
− |
| |
− | ==See Also==
| |
− | * [[Optics]]
| |
− | * [[Vision]]
| |
− | * [[Gaze]]
| |
− | * [[Image]]
| |
− | * [[Imaginary]]
| |
− | * [[Symbolic
| |
− | * [[Ego ideal]]
| |
− | * [[Ideal ego]]
| |
− | * [[Materialism]]
| |
− |
| |
− | ==References==
| |
− | <references/>
| |
− |
| |
− |
| |
− | [[Category:Gaze]]
| |
− | [[Category:Theory]]
| |
− | [[Category:Psychoanalytic theory]]
| |
− | [[Category:Symbolic]]
| |
− | [[Category:Terms]]
| |
− | [[Category:Concepts]]
| |
− | [[Category:Psychoanalysis]]
| |
− | [[Category:Jacques Lacan]]
| |
− | [[Category:Help]]
| |
− | [[Category:New]]
| |
− | [[Category:Imaginary]]
| |
− | [[Category:Gaze]]
| |