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{| align="[[right]]" style="line-height:2.0em;margin-left:10px;align:right;text-align:right;background-color:#fcfcfc;border:1px solid #aaa" | [[French]]: ''[[imaginaire]]''|-| [[German]]: ''[[Imaginäre{Top{Bottom}}imaginaire==Jacques Lacan==In the [[Jacques Lacan:Bibliography|work]] of [[Jacques Lacan]], the [[real]], the [[symbolic]], and the [[imaginary]] are a central [[order|set of references]]. The [[imaginary]] is the [[order|field]] of the [[ego]].<!--In the [[Jacques Lacan:Bibliography|work]] of [[Jacques Lacan]], the [[real]], the [[symbolic]], and the [[imaginary]] are a central [[order|set of references]]. The [[imaginary]] is the [[order|field]] of the [[ego]].--><!--=====History=====[[Lacan]]'s use of the term "[[imaginary]]" as a substantive dates back to [[{{Y}}|1936]].<ref>{{Ec}} p. 81</ref> The term relates to the [[dual relation]] between the [[ego]] and the [[specular image]]. From [[{{Y}}|1953]] on, the [[imaginary]] becomes one of the [[order|three orders]] which constitute the [[order|tripartite scheme]] at the center of [[Lacan]]ian [[thought]], being opposed to the [[symbolic]] and the [[real]]. --><!--It took Lacan twenty years to restore the imaginary to its [[full]] [[place]] alongside the real and [[the symbolic]], which he did within the topic of the Borromean [[knot]] (a set of [[three]] interlinked rings that come apart if any one is removed).--><!-- 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=====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 [[mirror stage]], whereby the [[ego]] is constituted by [[identification]] with the [[other|little other]]. 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]]. The [[ego]] and the [[counterpart]] [[form]] the prototypical [[dual relation]]ship, and are interchangeable. identification is 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. ((Since the [[ego]] is formed by [[identifying]] with the [[counterpart]] or [[specular image]], [[identification]] is an important aspect of the [[imaginary|imaginary order]]. ))--><!--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>{{BottomS3}}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]].-->

Lacan's use of the term 'imaginary' as a substantive dates back to 1936 (Ec, 81). From the beginning, the term has connotations of illusion, fascination and seduction, and relates specifically to the DUAL RELATION between the EGO and the SPECULAR IMAGE. It is important to note, however, that while the imaginary always retains connotations of illusion and lure, it is not simply synonymous with 'the illusory' insofar as the latter term implies something unnecessary and inconsequential (Ec, 723). The imaginary is far from inconsequential; it has powerful effects in the real, and is not simply something that can be dispensed with or 'overcome'. =====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. The basis of the imaginary order continues to be the formation of the ego in the MIRROR STAGE. Since the ego is formed by identifying with the counterpart or specular image, IDENTIFICATION is an important aspect of the imaginary order. The ego and the counterpart form the prototypical dual relationship, and are interchangeable. This relation­ship whereby the ego is constituted by identification with the little other means that the ego, and the imaginary order itself, are both sites of a radical ALIENATION; 'alienation is constitutive of the imaginary order' (S3, 146). The dual relationship between the ego and the counterpart is fundamentally narcissistic, and NARCISSISM is another characteristic of the imaginary order. Narcissism is always accompanied by a certain AGGRESSIVITY. 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 thus ]] exerts a [[captation|captivating power]] over the [[subject]], founded in the order almost hypnotic effect of surface appearances which are deceptive, observable phenomena which hide underlying structure; the affects are such phenomena[[specular image]]. However, the opposition between the The [[imaginary and ]] is thus rooted in [[subject]]'s [[relationship]] to his own [[body]] (or rather to the symbolic does not mean that [[image]] of his body). This [[captation|captivating/capturing power]] is both [[seductive]] (the [[imaginary ]] is lacking manifest­ed above all on the [[sexual]] plane, in structuresuch forms as sexual display and courtship [[rituals]])<ref>{{L}} "[[Situation de la psychanalyse et formation du psychanalyste en 1956]]. On the contrary" ''[[Écrits]]''. [[Paris]]: Seuil, 1966 [1956b]: 272</ref> and disabling: it imprisons the imaginary [[subject]] in series of static fixations.-->

~he imaginary is the dimension of the human subject which is most closely ced to ethology and animal psychology (S3, 253). All attempts to explain nan subjectivity in terms of animal psychology are thus limited to the Iginary (see NATURE). Although the imaginary represents the closest point ~ontact between human subjectivity and animal ethology (S2, 166), it is not Iply identical; the imaginary order in human beings is structured by the nbolic, and this means that 'in man, the imaginary ==See Also=={{See}}* [[Aggressivity]]* [[Alienation]]* [[Captation]]||* [[Counterpart]]* [[Dual relation has deviated )m the realm of nature]' (S2, 210) .. ]* [[Ego]]||* [[Identification]]* [[Knowledge]]* [[Linguistics]]||* [[Mirror stage]]* [[Narcissism]]* [[Nature]]||* [[Specular image]]* [[Subject]]* [[Structure]]||* [[Symbol]]* [[Symbolic]]{{Also}}

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