Difference between revisions of "Ego"

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ego (moi)          From very early on in his work, Lacan plays on the fact that the
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{{Top}}moi]]''
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|-
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|| [[German]]: ''[[Ich{{Bottom}}
  
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  German term which Freud uses (Ich) can be translated into French by two
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=====Jacques Lacan=====
 +
=====''Moi'' and ''Je''=====
 +
From [[Works of Jacques Lacan|very early on in his work]], [[Lacan]] plays on the fact that the [[German]] term which [[Freud]] uses (''[[Ego|Ich]]'') can be translated into [[French]] by two [[words]]: ''[[ego|moi]]'' (the usual term which [[French]] [[psychoanalyst]]s use for [[Freud]]'s ''[[ego|Ich]]'') and ''[[ego|je]]''.
  
−
  words: moi (the usual term which French psychoanalysts use for Freud's Ich)
+
Thus, for example, in his paper on the [[mirror stage]], [[Lacan]] oscillates between the two [[terms]].<ref>{{L}} "[[The Mirror Stage as Formative of the Function of the I as Revealed in Psychoanalytic Experience|Le stade du miroir comme formateur de la fonction du Je]]," in {{Ec}} pp. 93-100 ["[[The Mirror Stage as Formative of the Function of the I as Revealed in Psychoanalytic Experience]]", trans. [[Alan Sheridan]], in {{E}} pp. 1-7].</ref>
  
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  and je. This had first been pointed out by the French grammarian, …douard
+
While it is difficult to discern any systematic [[distinction]] between the two terms in this paper, it is clear that they are not simply used interchangeably, and in 1956 he is still groping for a way to distinguish clearly between [[them]].<ref>{{S3}} p. 261</ref>
  
−
  Pichon (see Roudinesco, 1986: 301). Thus, for example, in his paper on the
+
=====Shifter=====
 +
It was the publication of [[Jakobson]]'s paper on [[shifter]]s in 1957 that allowed [[Lacan]] to theorise the distinction more clearly; thus, in 1960, [[Lacan]] refers to the ''[[ego|je]]'' as a [[shifter]], which designates but does not [[signify]] the [[subject]] of the [[enunciation]].<ref>{{E}} p. 298</ref>
  
−
  mirror stage, Lacan oscillates between the two terms (Lacan, 1949). While it is
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=====Translation=====
 +
Most [[English]] translations make [[Lacan]]'s usage clear by rendering ''[[ego|moi]]'' as "[[ego]]" and ''[[ego|je]]'' as "[[ego|I]]".
  
−
  difficult to discern any systematic distinction between the two terms in this
+
=====Ego-Psychology=====
 +
When [[Lacan]] uses the [[Latin]] term [[ego]] (the term used to translate [[Freud]]'s ''[[ego|Ich]]'' in the [[Standard Edition]]), he uses it in the same [[sense]] as the term ''[[moi]]'', but also means it to imply a  more direct reference to Anglo-American [[school]]s of [[psychoanalysis]], especially [[ego-psychology]].
  
−
  paper, it is clear that they are not simply used interchangeably, and in 1956 he
+
=====Sigmund Freud=====
 +
[[Freud]]'s use of the term ''[[ego|Ich]]'' ([[ego]]) is extremely [[complex]] and went through many developments throughout the course of his [[Works of Sigmund Freud|work]] before coming to denote one of the [[three]] [[agencies]] of the so-called "[[ego|structural model]]" (the [[others]] [[being]] the [[id]] and the [[superego]]).
  
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  is still groping for a way to distinguish clearly between them (S3, 261). It was
+
=====Two Approaches=====
 +
Despite the complexity of [[Freud]]'s formulations on the [[ego]], [[Lacan]] discerns two main approaches to the [[ego]] in [[Freud]]'s [[Works of Sigmund Freud|work]], and points out that they are apparently contradictory.  
  
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  the publication of Jakobson's paper on shifters in 1957 that allowed Lacan to
+
On the one hand, in the context of the [[theory]] of [[narcissism]], "the ego takes sides against the object", whereas on the [[other]] hand, in the context of the so-called "[[ego|structural model]]", "the ego takes sides with the object."<ref>{{L}} "[[Works of Jacques Lacan|Some Reflections on the Ego]]," ''Int. J. [[Psycho]]-[[Anal]].'', vol. 34, 1953: p. 11</ref>
  
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theorise the distinction more clearly; thus, in 1960, Lacan refers to the je as a
+
The former approach places the [[ego]] firmly in the [[libido|libidinal economy]] and [[links]] it with the [[pleasure principle]], whereas the latter approach links the [[ego]] to the [[perception]]-[[consciousness]] [[system]] and opposes it to the [[pleasure principle]].
  
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  SHIFTER, which designates but does not signify the subject of the enunciation
+
[[Lacan]] claims too that the [[apparent]] [[contradiction]] between these two accounts "[[disappears]] when we free ourselves from a naive conception of the reality-[[principle]]."<ref>{{L}} "[[Works of Jacques Lacan|Some Reflections on the Ego]]," ''Int. J. Psycho-Anal.'', vol. 34, 1953: p. 11</ref>
  
−
(E, 298). Most English translations make Lacan's usage clear by rendering moi
+
Thus the [[reality]] that the [[ego]] mediates with, in the latter account, is in fact made out of the [[pleasure principle]] which the [[ego]] represents in the former account.  
  
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  as 'ego' and je as 'I'.
+
However, it is arguable whether this argument really resolves the contradiction or whether it does not, in effect, simply privilege the former account at the expense of the latter.
  
−
      When Lacan uses the Latin term ego (the term used to translate Freud's Ich
+
=====Center of the Subject=====
 +
[[Lacan]] argues that [[Freud]]'s discovery of the [[unconscious]] removed the [[ego]] from the central [[position]] to which [[philosophy|western philosophy]], at least since [[Descartes]], had traditionally assigned it.
  
−
  in the Standard Edition), he uses it in the same sense as the term moi, but also
+
[[Lacan]] also argues that the proponents of [[ego-psychology]] betrayed [[Freud]]'s radical discovery by relocating the [[ego]] as the center of the [[subject]].
  
−
  means it to imply    a  more direct reference to Anglo-American schools of
+
In opposition to this [[school|school of thought]], [[Lacan]] maintains that the [[ego]] is not at the center, that the [[ego]] is in fact an [[object]].                '
  
−
psychoanalysis, especially EGO-PSYCHOLOGY.
+
=====Identification=====
 +
The [[ego]] is a [[formation|construction]] which is formed by [[identification]] with the [[specular image]] in the [[Mirror stage]].  
  
−
      Freud's use of the term Ich (ego) is extremely complex and went through
+
=====Alienation=====
 +
It is thus the [[place]] where the [[subject]] becomes [[alienate]]d from himself, transforming himself into the [[counterpart]].
  
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many developments throughout the course of his work before coming to denote
+
=====Paranoiac Structure=====
 +
This [[alienation]] on which the [[ego]] is based is [[structure|structurally]] similar to [[paranoia]], which is why [[Lacan]] writes that the [[ego]] has a [[paranoiac]] [[structure]].<ref>{{E}} p. 20</ref>
  
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  one of the three agencies of the so-called 'structural model' (the others being
+
=====Imaginary Formation=====
 +
The [[ego]] is thus an [[imaginary]] [[formation]], as opposed to the [[subject]], which is a product of the [[symbolic]].<ref>{{E}} p. 128</ref>
  
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the id and the superego). Despite the complexity of Freud's formulations on
+
=====Méconnaissance=====
 +
Indeed, the [[ego]] is precisely a [[méconnaissance]] of the [[symbolic order]], the seat of [[resistance]].
  
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the ego, Lacan discerns two main approaches to the ego in Freud's work, and
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=====Symptom=====
 +
The [[ego]] is [[structure]]d like a [[symptom]]:
  
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points out that they      are apparently contradictory. On the     one hand, in the
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<blockquote>"The ego is [[structured]] exactly like a symptom. At the heart of [[The Subject|the subject]], it is only a privileged symptom, the [[human]] symptom par excellence, the [[mental]] [[illness]] of man."<ref>{{S1}} p. 16</ref></blockquote>
  
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  context of the theory of narcissism, 'the ego takes sides against the object',
+
=====Analytic Treatment=====
 +
[[Lacan]] is therefore totally opposed to the [[idea]], current in [[ego-psychology]], that the [[end of analysis|aim]] of [[psychoanalytic treatment]] is to strengthen the [[ego]].
  
−
whereas on the other hand, in the context of the so-called 'structural model',
+
Since the [[ego]] is "the seat of illlusions",<ref>{{S1}} p. 62</ref> to increase its strength would only succeed in increasing the [[subject]]'s [[alienation]].
  
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'the ego takes sides with the object' (Lacan, 1951b: 11). The former approach
+
=====Resistance=====
 +
The [[ego]] is also the source of [[resistance]] to [[psychoanalytic]] [[treatment]], and thus to strengthen it would only increase those [[resistance]]s.  
  
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places the ego firmly in the libidinal economy and links it with the pleasure
+
Because of its [[imaginary]] fixity, the [[ego]] is [[resistance|resistant]] to all [[subjective]] growth and [[change]], and to the [[dialectic|dialectical movement]] of [[desire]].
  
−
principle, whereas the latter approach links the ego to the perception-con-
+
By undermining the fixity of the [[ego]], [[psychoanalytic treatment]] aims to restore the [[dialectic]] of [[desire]] and reinitiate the [[being|coming-into-being]] of the [[subject]].
  
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sciousness system and opposes it to the pleasure principle. Lacan claims too
+
=====Adaptation=====
 +
[[Lacan]] is opposed to the [[ego-psychology]] view which takes the [[ego]] of the [[analysand]] to be the ally of the [[analyst]] in the [[treatment]].  
  
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that the apparent contradiction between these two accounts 'disappears when
+
He also rejects the view that the [[end of analysis|aim]] of [[psychoanalytic treatment]] is to promote the [[adaptation]] of the [[ego]] to [[reality]].
  
−
  we free ourselves from a naive conception of the reality-principle' (Lacan,
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=====See Also=====
 +
{{See}}
 +
* [[Adaptation]]
 +
* [[Alienation]]
 +
* [[Counterpart]]
 +
||
 +
* [[Ego-psychology]]
 +
* [[Enunciation]]
 +
* [[Identification]]
 +
||
 +
* [[Imaginary]]
 +
* [[Mirror stage]]
 +
* [[Paranoia]]
 +
||
 +
* [[Resistance]]
 +
* [[Shifter]]
 +
* [[Specular image]]
 +
||
 +
* [[Structure]]
 +
* [[Subject]]
 +
* [[Symptom]]
 +
{{Also}}
  
−
1951b: 11; see REALITY PRINCIPLE). Thus the reality that the ego mediates with,
+
=====References=====
−
 
+
<div style="font-size:11px" class="references-small">
−
in the latter account, is in fact made out of the pleasure principle which the ego
 
−
 
 
−
represents in the former account. However, it is arguable whether this argu-
 
−
 
 
−
  ment really resolves the contradiction or whether it does not, in effect, simply
 
−
 
 
−
privilege the former account at the expense of the latter (see S20, 53, where the
 
−
 
 
−
ego is said to grow 'in the flowerpot of the pleasure principle').
 
−
 
 
−
      Lacan argues that Freud's discovery of the unconscious removed the ego
 
−
 
 
−
from the central position to which western philosophy, at least since Descartes,
 
−
 
 
−
had traditionally assigned it. Lacan also argues that the proponents of ego-
 
−
 
 
−
psychology betrayed Freud's radical discovery by relocating the ego as the
 
−
 
 
−
  centre of the subject (see AUTONOMOUS EGO). In opposition to this school of
 
−
 
 
−
thought, Lacan maintains that the ego is not at the centre, that the ego is in fact
 
−
 
 
−
  an object.                '
 
−
 
 
−
      The ego is a construction which is formed by identification with the specular
 
−
 
 
−
image in the MIRROR STAGE. It is thus the place where the subject becomes
 
−
 
 
−
alienated from himself, transforming himself into the counterpart. This alien-
 
−
 
 
−
ation on which the ego is based is structurally similar to paranoia, which is
 
−
 
 
−
why Lacan writes that the ego has a paranoiac structure (E, 20). The ego is thus
 
−
 
 
−
  an imaginary formation, as opposed to the SUBJECT, which is a product of the
 
−
 
 
−
symbolic (see E, 128). Indeed, the ego is precisely a mÈconnaissance of the
 
−
 
 
−
symbolic order, the seat of resistance. The ego is structured like a symptom:
 
−
 
 
−
  'The ego is structured exactly like a symptom. At the heart of the subject, it is
 
−
 
 
−
only a privileged symptom, the human symptom par excellence, the mental
 
−
 
 
−
illness of man' (Sl, 16).
 
−
 
 
−
      Lacan is therefore totally opposed to the idea, current in ego-psychology,
 
−
 
 
−
that the aim of psychoanalytic treatment is to strengthen the ego. Since the ego
 
−
 
 
−
  is 'the seat of illlusions' (Sl, 62), to increase its strength would only succeed in
 
−
 
 
−
increasing the subject's alienation. The ego is also the source of resistance to
 
−
 
 
−
psychoanalytic treatment, and thus to strengthen it would only increase those
 
−
 
 
−
resistances. Because of its imaginary fixity, the ego is resistant to all subjective
 
−
 
 
−
growth and change, and to the dialectical movement of desire. By undermining
 
−
 
 
−
  the fixity of the ego, psychoanalytic treatment aims to restore the dialectic of
 
−
 
 
−
  desire and reinitiate the coming-into-being of the subject.
 
−
 
 
−
      Lacan is opposed to the ego-psychology view which takes the ego of the
 
−
 
 
−
analysand to be the ally of the analyst in the treatment. He also rejects the view
 
−
 
 
−
  that the aim of psychoanalytic treatment is to promote the ADAPTATION of the
 
−
 
 
−
  ego to reality.
 
−
 
 
−
== def ==
 
−
 
 
−
For Freud, the ego is "the representative of the outer world to the id" ("Ego and the Id" 708). In other words, the ego represents and enforces the reality-principle whereas the id is concerned only with the pleasure-principle. Whereas the ego is oriented towards perceptions in the real world, the id is oriented towards internal instincts; whereas the ego is associated with reason and sanity, the id belongs to the passions. The ego, however, is never able fully to distinguish itself from the id, of which the ego is, in fact, a part, which is why in his pictorial representation of the mind Freud does not provide a hard separation between the ego and the id. The ego could also be said to be a defense against the superego and its ability to drive the individual subject towards inaction or suicide as a result of crippling guilt. Freud sometimes represents the ego as continually struggling to defend itself from three dangers or masters: "from the external world, from the libido of the id, and from the severity of the super-ego" ("Ego and the Id" 716).
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
== References ==
 
 
<references/>
 
<references/>
 +
</div>
  
−
[[Category:Lacan]]
+
[[Category:Psychoanalysis]]
 +
[[Category:Jacques Lacan]]
 +
[[Category:Dictionary]]
 +
[[Category:Imaginary]]
 +
[[Category:Subject]]
 +
[[Category:Concepts]]
 
[[Category:Terms]]
 
[[Category:Terms]]
−
[[Category:Concepts]]
+
 
−
[[Category:Psychoanalysis]]
+
__NOTOC__

Latest revision as of 06:23, 24 May 2019

French: moi
German: Ich
Jacques Lacan
Moi and Je

From very early on in his work, Lacan plays on the fact that the German term which Freud uses (Ich) can be translated into French by two words: moi (the usual term which French psychoanalysts use for Freud's Ich) and je.

Thus, for example, in his paper on the mirror stage, Lacan oscillates between the two terms.[1]

While it is difficult to discern any systematic distinction between the two terms in this paper, it is clear that they are not simply used interchangeably, and in 1956 he is still groping for a way to distinguish clearly between them.[2]

Shifter

It was the publication of Jakobson's paper on shifters in 1957 that allowed Lacan to theorise the distinction more clearly; thus, in 1960, Lacan refers to the je as a shifter, which designates but does not signify the subject of the enunciation.[3]

Translation

Most English translations make Lacan's usage clear by rendering moi as "ego" and je as "I".

Ego-Psychology

When Lacan uses the Latin term ego (the term used to translate Freud's Ich in the Standard Edition), he uses it in the same sense as the term moi, but also means it to imply a more direct reference to Anglo-American schools of psychoanalysis, especially ego-psychology.

Sigmund Freud

Freud's use of the term Ich (ego) is extremely complex and went through many developments throughout the course of his work before coming to denote one of the three agencies of the so-called "structural model" (the others being the id and the superego).

Two Approaches

Despite the complexity of Freud's formulations on the ego, Lacan discerns two main approaches to the ego in Freud's work, and points out that they are apparently contradictory.

On the one hand, in the context of the theory of narcissism, "the ego takes sides against the object", whereas on the other hand, in the context of the so-called "structural model", "the ego takes sides with the object."[4]

The former approach places the ego firmly in the libidinal economy and links it with the pleasure principle, whereas the latter approach links the ego to the perception-consciousness system and opposes it to the pleasure principle.

Lacan claims too that the apparent contradiction between these two accounts "disappears when we free ourselves from a naive conception of the reality-principle."[5]

Thus the reality that the ego mediates with, in the latter account, is in fact made out of the pleasure principle which the ego represents in the former account.

However, it is arguable whether this argument really resolves the contradiction or whether it does not, in effect, simply privilege the former account at the expense of the latter.

Center of the Subject

Lacan argues that Freud's discovery of the unconscious removed the ego from the central position to which western philosophy, at least since Descartes, had traditionally assigned it.

Lacan also argues that the proponents of ego-psychology betrayed Freud's radical discovery by relocating the ego as the center of the subject.

In opposition to this school of thought, Lacan maintains that the ego is not at the center, that the ego is in fact an object. '

Identification

The ego is a construction which is formed by identification with the specular image in the Mirror stage.

Alienation

It is thus the place where the subject becomes alienated from himself, transforming himself into the counterpart.

Paranoiac Structure

This alienation on which the ego is based is structurally similar to paranoia, which is why Lacan writes that the ego has a paranoiac structure.[6]

Imaginary Formation

The ego is thus an imaginary formation, as opposed to the subject, which is a product of the symbolic.[7]

Méconnaissance

Indeed, the ego is precisely a méconnaissance of the symbolic order, the seat of resistance.

Symptom

The ego is structured like a symptom:

"The ego is structured exactly like a symptom. At the heart of the subject, it is only a privileged symptom, the human symptom par excellence, the mental illness of man."[8]

Analytic Treatment

Lacan is therefore totally opposed to the idea, current in ego-psychology, that the aim of psychoanalytic treatment is to strengthen the ego.

Since the ego is "the seat of illlusions",[9] to increase its strength would only succeed in increasing the subject's alienation.

Resistance

The ego is also the source of resistance to psychoanalytic treatment, and thus to strengthen it would only increase those resistances.

Because of its imaginary fixity, the ego is resistant to all subjective growth and change, and to the dialectical movement of desire.

By undermining the fixity of the ego, psychoanalytic treatment aims to restore the dialectic of desire and reinitiate the coming-into-being of the subject.

Adaptation

Lacan is opposed to the ego-psychology view which takes the ego of the analysand to be the ally of the analyst in the treatment.

He also rejects the view that the aim of psychoanalytic treatment is to promote the adaptation of the ego to reality.

See Also
References
  1. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. "Le stade du miroir comme formateur de la fonction du Je," in Lacan, Jacques. Écrits. Paris: Seuil, 1966. pp. 93-100 ["The Mirror Stage as Formative of the Function of the I as Revealed in Psychoanalytic Experience", trans. Alan Sheridan, in Lacan, Jacques. Écrits: A Selection. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Tavistock Publications, 1977. pp. 1-7].
  2. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book III. The Psychoses, 1955-56. Trans. Russell Grigg. London: Routledge, 1993. p. 261
  3. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Écrits: A Selection. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Tavistock Publications, 1977. p. 298
  4. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. "Some Reflections on the Ego," Int. J. Psycho-Anal., vol. 34, 1953: p. 11
  5. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. "Some Reflections on the Ego," Int. J. Psycho-Anal., vol. 34, 1953: p. 11
  6. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Écrits: A Selection. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Tavistock Publications, 1977. p. 20
  7. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Écrits: A Selection. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Tavistock Publications, 1977. p. 128
  8. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book I. Freud's Papers on Technique, 1953-54. Trans. John Forrester. New York: Nortion; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988. p. 16
  9. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book I. Freud's Papers on Technique, 1953-54. Trans. John Forrester. New York: Nortion; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988. p. 62


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