Difference between revisions of "Imaginary"
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<!-- In his 1936 essay "Au-delà du 'principe de réalité"' (Beyond the reality principle), Lacan noted that Freud discovered a meaning in patients' complaints that other physicians considered imaginary and thus illusory. In his first reading of Freud's work, Lacan emphasized the notion of the image by highlighting its function: reflecting the subject's discrete behaviors in unified images. In the mirror stage, the subject identifies with these images and develops an ego concept in relation to another. --> | <!-- In his 1936 essay "Au-delà du 'principe de réalité"' (Beyond the reality principle), Lacan noted that Freud discovered a meaning in patients' complaints that other physicians considered imaginary and thus illusory. In his first reading of Freud's work, Lacan emphasized the notion of the image by highlighting its function: reflecting the subject's discrete behaviors in unified images. In the mirror stage, the subject identifies with these images and develops an ego concept in relation to another. --> | ||
===Ego=== | ===Ego=== | ||
| − | The [[imaginary|imaginary order]] is based on the [[formation]] of the [[ego]] in the [[mirror stage]]. | + | The [[imaginary|imaginary order]] is based on the [[formation]] of the [[ego]] in the [[mirror stage]]. The [[ego]] is [[formation|formed]] by [[identification|identifying]] with the [[counterpart]] or [[specular image]]. Thus, [[identification]] is an important aspect of the [[imaginary|imaginary order]]. <!-- essential to the structure of the imaginary order and to the development of the human ego.</i> The basis of the [[imaginary|imaginary order]] is the [[mirror stage]], in which the [[subject]] [[identification|identifies]] with its [[counterpart]] or [[specular image] and develops an ego concept in relation to another. |
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| − | The basis of the [[imaginary|imaginary order]] is the [[mirror stage]], in which the [[subject]] [[identification|identifies]] with its [[counterpart]] or [[specular image] and develops an ego concept in relation to another. | ||
Since the [[ego]] is formed by [[identifying]] with the [[counterpart]] or [[specular image]], [[identification]] is an important aspect of the [[imaginary|imaginary order]]. The [[ego]] and the [[counterpart]] form the prototypical [[dual relation]]ship, and are interchangeable. | Since the [[ego]] is formed by [[identifying]] with the [[counterpart]] or [[specular image]], [[identification]] is an important aspect of the [[imaginary|imaginary order]]. The [[ego]] and the [[counterpart]] form the prototypical [[dual relation]]ship, and are interchangeable. | ||
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This relationship whereby the [[ego]] is constituted by [[identification]] with the [[other|little other]] means that the [[ego]], and the [[imaginary|imaginary order]] itself, are both sites of a radical [[alienation]]; "Alienation is constitutive of the imaginary order."<ref>{{S3}} p. 146</ref> | This relationship whereby the [[ego]] is constituted by [[identification]] with the [[other|little other]] means that the [[ego]], and the [[imaginary|imaginary order]] itself, are both sites of a radical [[alienation]]; "Alienation is constitutive of the imaginary order."<ref>{{S3}} p. 146</ref> | ||
| − | The [[dual relation]]ship between the [[ego]] and the [[counterpart]] is fundamentally [[narcissistic]], and [[narcissism]] is another characteristic of the [[imaginary|imaginary order]]. [[Narcissism]] is always accompanied by a certain [[aggressivity]]. | + | The [[dual relation]]ship between the [[ego]] and the [[counterpart]] is fundamentally [[narcissistic]], and [[narcissism]] is another characteristic of the [[imaginary|imaginary order]]. [[Narcissism]] is always accompanied by a certain [[aggressivity]]. |
===Image=== | ===Image=== | ||
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{{OK}} | {{OK}} | ||
[[Category:Imaginary]] | [[Category:Imaginary]] | ||
| − | [[Category:Development]] | + | [[Category:Development]]--> |
Revision as of 13:52, 7 November 2006
| French: imaginaire |
| German: Imaginäre |
In the work of Jacques Lacan, the real, the symbolic, and the imaginary are a central set of references. The imaginary is the field of the ego.
Jacques Lacan
History
Lacan's use of the term "imaginary" as a substantive dates back to 1936.[1] The term relates to the dual relation between the ego and the specular image. From 1953 on, the imaginary becomes one of the three orders which constitute the tripartite scheme at the centre of Lacanian thought, being opposed to the symbolic and the real.
Ego
The imaginary order is based on the formation of the ego in the mirror stage. The ego is formed by identifying with the counterpart or specular image. Thus, identification is an important aspect of the imaginary order.
- ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Écrits. Paris: Seuil, 1966. p. 81
