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ego-ideal (idÈal du moi) In Freud's writings it is difficult to discern
any systematic distinction between the three related terms 'ego-ideal' (Ich-
ideal), 'ideal ego' (Ideal Ich), and superego (‹ber-Ich), although neither are
the terms simply used interchangeably. Lacan, however, argues that these three
'formations of the ego' are each quite distinct concepts which must not be
confused with one another.
In his pre-war writings Lacan is mainly concerned to establish a distinction
between the ego-ideal and the superego, and does not refer to the ideal ego.
Although both the ego-ideal and the SUPEREGo are linked with the decline of the
Oedipus complex, and both are products of identification with the father,
Lacan argues that they represent different aspects of the father's dual role.
The superego is an unconscious agency whose function is to repress sexual
desire for the mother, whereas the ego-ideal exerts a conscious pressure
towards sublimation and provides the coordinates which enable the subject
to take up a sexual position as a man or woman (Lacan, 1938: 59-62).
In his post-war writings Lacan pays more attention to distinguishing the ego-
ideal from the ideal ego (Fr. moi idÈal. Note: at one point, in 1949, Lacan uses
the term je-idÈal to render Freud's Ideal-Ich [E, 2]; however, he soon abandons
this practice and for the rest of his work uses the term moi idÈal.). Thus in the
1953-4 seminar, he develops the OPTICAL MODEL to distinguish between these
two formations. He argues that the ego-ideal is a symbolic introjection,
whereas the ideal ego is the source of an imaginary projection (see S8, 414).
The ego-ideal is the signifier operating as ideal, an internalised plan of the law,
the guide governing the subject's position in the symbolic order, and hence
anticipates secondary (Oedipal) identification (Sl, 141) or is a product of that
identification (Lacan, 1957-8). The ideal ego, on the other hand, originates in
the specular image of the mirror stage; it is a promise of future synthesis
towards which the ego tends, the illusion of unity on which the ego is built.
The ideal ego always accompanies the ego, as an ever-present attempt to
regain the omnipotence of the preoedipal dual relation. Though formed in
primary identification, the ideal ego continues to play a role as the source of all
secondary identifications (E, 2). The ideal ego is written i(a) in Lacanian
algebra, and the ego ideal is written I(A).
== def ==
Ego-Ideal (Freud):
