Difference between revisions of "Imaginary"
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| − | + | | [[French]]: ''[[imaginaire]]'' | |
| + | |- | ||
| + | | [[German]]: ''[[Imaginäre{{Bottom}} | ||
| + | ==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]]. | ||
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| + | <!-- | ||
| + | =====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]]. | ||
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| + | 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). | ||
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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]]. --> | ||
| + | =====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]]. | ||
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| + | 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]]. )) | ||
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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> | ||
| + | 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]]. | ||
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| + | =====Image===== | ||
| + | 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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| + | The [[imaginary]] exerts a [[captation|captivating power]] over the [[subject]], founded in the almost hypnotic effect of the [[specular image]]. The [[imaginary]] is thus rooted in [[subject]]'s [[relationship]] to his own [[body]] (or rather to the [[image]] of his body). This [[captation|captivating/capturing power]] is both [[seductive]] (the [[imaginary]] is manifested above all on the [[sexual]] plane, in such forms as sexual display and courtship [[rituals]])<ref>{{L}} "[[Situation de la psychanalyse et formation du psychanalyste en 1956]]." ''[[Écrits]]''. [[Paris]]: Seuil, 1966 [1956b]: 272</ref> and disabling: it imprisons the [[subject]] in series of static fixations. | ||
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| − | == | + | =====Psychology===== |
| + | The [[imaginary]] is the [[dimension]] of the [[human]] [[subject]] which is most closely linked to [[animal]] [[psychology]], yet it is [[structure]]d by the [[symbolic]], and this means that "in man, the imaginary relation has deviated [from the realm of nature]."<ref>{{S2}} p. 210</ref> | ||
| + | <!-- | ||
| + | the [[imaginary]] represents the closest point of contact between [[human]] [[subjectivity]] and [[animal]] [[ethology]],<ref>{{S2}} p. 166</ref> it is not simply identical; the [[imaginary|imaginary order]] in [[human]] [[being]]s is [[structure]]d by the [[symbolic]], and this means that "in man, the imaginary relation has deviated [from the realm of nature]."<ref>{{S2}} p. 210</ref> | ||
| + | All attempts to explain [[human]] [[subjectivity]] in [[terms]] of [[animal]] [[psychology]] are thus limited to the [[imaginary]]. Although the [[imaginary]] represents the closest point of contact between [[human]] [[subjectivity]] and [[animal]] [[ethology]],<ref>{{S2}} p. 166</ref> it is not simply identical; the [[imaginary|imaginary order]] in [[human]] [[being]]s is [[structure]]d by the [[symbolic]], and this means that "in man, the imaginary relation has deviated [from the realm of nature]."<ref>{{S2}} p. 210</ref> | ||
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| − | + | =====Criticism===== | |
| + | [[Lacan]] accused the major [[school|psychoanalytic schools]] of reducing [[psychoanalysis]] to the [[imaginary|imaginary order]]. | ||
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| + | [[Lacan]] accused the major [[school|psychoanalytic schools]] of his day of reducing [[psychoanalysis]] to the [[imaginary|imaginary order]]: these [[psychoanalysts]] made [[identification]] with the [[analyst]] into the [[goal]] of [[treatment|analysis]], and reduced [[treatment|analysis]] to a [[dual relation]]ship.<ref>{{E}} p. 246-7</ref> [[Lacan]] sees this as a [[complete]] [[betrayal]] of [[psychoanalysis]], a deviation which can only eveer succeed in increasing the [[alienation]] of the [[subject]]. | ||
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| − | |||
| − | [[ | + | ==See Also== |
| − | [[ | + | {{See}} |
| − | [[ | + | * [[Aggressivity]] |
| − | [[ | + | * [[Alienation]] |
| − | [[ | + | * [[Captation]] |
| − | + | || | |
| + | * [[Counterpart]] | ||
| + | * [[Dual relation]] | ||
| + | * [[Ego]] | ||
| + | || | ||
| + | * [[Identification]] | ||
| + | * [[Knowledge]] | ||
| + | * [[Linguistics]] | ||
| + | || | ||
| + | * [[Mirror stage]] | ||
| + | * [[Narcissism]] | ||
| + | * [[Nature]] | ||
| + | || | ||
| + | * [[Specular image]] | ||
| + | * [[Subject]] | ||
| + | * [[Structure]] | ||
| + | || | ||
| + | * [[Symbol]] | ||
| + | * [[Symbolic]] | ||
| + | {{Also}} | ||
| − | + | ==References== | |
| − | + | <div style="font-size:11px" class="references-small"> | |
| + | <references/> | ||
| + | </div> | ||
| − | + | {{OK}} | |
| − | + | [[Category:Imaginary]] | |
| − | + | [[Category:Development]] | |
| − | [[Category: | + | __NOTOC__ __NOEDITSECTION__ |
Latest revision as of 00:10, 25 May 2019
| 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 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
