Changes

[[optical ]] [[model ]] (modËle optique) [[Freud ]] compares the [[psyche ]] with an optical [[apparatus ]] such as a microscope or a camera in The [[Interpretation ]] of [[Dreams ]] (Freud, 1900a: SE V, 536). [[Lacan ]] also uses optical apparatuses at several points in his [[work]]: for example he uses the camera to provide a '[[materialist ]] definition of the phenomenon of [[consciousness]]' (S2, ch. 4).Lacan argues that [[optics ]] is a useful way of approaching the [[structure ]] of the psyche because [[images ]] play an important [[role ]] in [[psychic ]] structure (Sl, 76).However, like Freud, Lacan warns that such an approach can never provide more than rather crude analogies, since optical images are not the same as the kind of images which are the [[object ]] of [[psychoanalytic ]] research. For this [[reason]], Lacan soon replaces optical images with [[topological ]] [[figures ]] which are intended to prevent [[imaginary ]] [[capture ]] (see TOPOLOGY). Nevertheless, as Freud said of his own optical models, "we [[need ]] the assistance of provisional [[ideas]]' (Freud, 1900: 536).The [[optical model ]] first appears in 1954 (which is the version reproduced in [[Figure ]] 12, taken from Sl, 124), and is taken up later in 'A remark on [[Daniel Lagache]]'s report' (1958b), in the [[seminar ]] on the [[transference ]] (1960-1), and elsewhere. It is basically an optical experiment which is constructed by means of a plane [[mirror ]] and a concave mirror. The concave mirror produces a [[real ]] [[image ]] of an inverted flower-pot, hidden from view by a box, which is then reflected in the plane mirror to produce a [[virtual ]] image. This virtual image is only [[visible ]] to a [[subject ]] who places himself within a [[particular ]] area of [[vision]]. Lacan uses the model to illustrate various points. Two of the most important points are the [[structuring ]] role of the [[symbolic ]] [[order ]] and the function of the EGO-IDEAL.1. [[The optical model ]] illustrates the way that the [[position ]] of the subject in [[the symbolic ]] order (represented by the angle of the plane mirror) determines the way in which [[the imaginary ]] is articulated with the real. 'My position in the imaginary . . . is only conceivable insofar as one finds a [[guide ]] beyond the imaginary, on the level of the symbolic plane' (Sl, 141). The optical model thus illustrates the primary importance of the [[symbolic order ]] in structuring the imaginary. The [[action ]] of psychoanalytic [[treatment ]] can be compared to the rotation of the plane mirror, which alters the position of the subject in the symbolic.2. The optical model also illustrates the function of the [[ideal ]] ego, which is represented in the diagram as the real image, in opposition to the [[ego-ideal]], which is the symbolic guide governing the angle of the mirror and hence the position of the subject (Sl, 141).