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. --> | ||
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The [[imaginary|imaginary order]] is based on the [[formation]] of the [[ego]] in the [[mirror stage]] by [[identification]] with the [[counterpart]] (or [[specular image]]). The [[dual relation]] between the [[ego]] and the [[counterpart]] is characterized by [[alienation]] and [[narcissism]]. | The [[imaginary|imaginary order]] is based on the [[formation]] of the [[ego]] in the [[mirror stage]] by [[identification]] with the [[counterpart]] (or [[specular image]]). The [[dual relation]] between the [[ego]] and the [[counterpart]] is characterized by [[alienation]] and [[narcissism]]. | ||
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The [[imaginary]] is the realm of [[image]] and [[imagination]], [[truth|deception]] and [[lure]]. The principal illusions of the [[imaginary]] are those of [[gestalt|wholeness]], [[dialectic|synthesis]], [[autonomous ego|autonomy]], [[dual relation|duality]] and, above all, [[counterpart|similarity]]. | The [[imaginary]] is the realm of [[image]] and [[imagination]], [[truth|deception]] and [[lure]]. The principal illusions of the [[imaginary]] are those of [[gestalt|wholeness]], [[dialectic|synthesis]], [[autonomous ego|autonomy]], [[dual relation|duality]] and, above all, [[counterpart|similarity]]. | ||
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Revision as of 14:26, 7 November 2006
| French: imaginaire |
| German: Imaginäre |
Jacques Lacan
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.
Ego
The imaginary order is based on the formation of the ego in the mirror stage by identification with the counterpart (or specular image). The dual relation between the ego and the counterpart is characterized by alienation and narcissism.
Image
The imaginary is the realm of image and imagination, deception and lure. The principal illusions of the imaginary are those of wholeness, synthesis, autonomy, duality and, above all, similarity.
Psychology
The imaginary is the dimension of the human subject which is most closely linked to animal psychology, yet it is structured by the symbolic, and this means that "in man, the imaginary relation has deviated [from the realm of nature]."[1]
Criticism
Lacan accused the major psychoanalytic schools of reducing psychoanalysis to the imaginary order.
See Also
References
- ↑ Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book III. The Psychoses, 1955-56. Trans. Russell Grigg. London: Routledge, 1993. p. 253
Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book II. The Ego in Freud's Theory and in the Technique of Psychoanalysis, 1954-55. Trans. Sylvana Tomaselli. New York: Nortion; Cambridge: Cambridge Unviersity Press, 1988. p. 210
