Difference between revisions of "Superego"

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superego (surmoi)                The term 'superego' does not appear until quite late
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{{Top}}surmoi{{Bottom}}
  
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  in Freud's work, being first introduced in The Ego and the Id (Freud, 1923b). It
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==Sigmund Freud==
 +
The term "[[superego]]" does not appear until quite late in [[Freud]]'s [[Sigmund Freud:Bibliography|work]], [[being]] first introduced in ''[[The Ego and the Id]]'' (1923).
  
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    was in this work that Freud introduced his so-called 'structural model', in
+
It was in this [[work]] that [[Freud]] introduced his so-called "[[structural model]]", in which the [[psyche]] is [[divided]] into [[three]] [[agencies]]: the [[ego]], the [[id]] and the [[superego]].
  
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    which the psyche is divided into three agencies; the EGo, the ID and the
+
However, the [[concept]] of a [[moral agency]] which judges and censures the [[ego]] can be found in [[Freud]]'s [[Sigmund Freud:Bibliography|work]] long before he locates these functions in the [[superego]], such as in his concept of [[censorship]].
  
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  superego. However, the concept of a moral agency which judges and censures
+
==Jacques Lacan==
 +
[[Lacan]]'s first [[discussion]] of the [[superego]] comes in his articule on the [[family]].
  
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  the ego can be found in Freud's work long before he locates these functions in
+
In this work he distinguishes clearly between the [[superego]] and the '''[[ego-ideal]]''', [[terms]] which [[Freud]] seems to use interchangeably in ''[[The Ego and the Id]]''.
  
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  the superego, such as in his concept of censorship.
+
He argues that the primary function of the [[superego]] is to [[repress]] [[desire|sexual desire]] for the [[mother]] in the [[resolution]] of the [[Oedipus complex]].
  
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      Lacan's first discussion of the superego comes in his article on the family
+
Following [[Freud]], he argues that the [[superego]] results from [[Oedipal]] [[identification]] with the [[father]], but he also refers to [[Kleinian psychoanalysis|Melanie Klein]]'s [[thesis]] on the [[maternal]] origins of an archaic [[form]] of the [[superego]].<ref>{{1938}} p. 59-60</ref>
  
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(Lacan, 1938). In this work he distinguishes clearly between the superego and
+
===Symbolic Law===
 +
When Lacan returns to the subject of the superego in his 1953-4 [[seminar]]; he locates it in the [[symbolic|symbolic order]], as opposed to the [[imaginary|imaginary order]] of the [[ego]]: the [[superego]] is essentially located within the [[symbolic|symbolic plane]] of [[speech]].<ref>{{S1}} p. 102</ref>
  
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  the EGO-IDEAL, terms which Freud seems to use interchangeably in The Ego and
+
The [[superego]] has a close [[relationship]] with the [[Law]], but this relationship is a paradoxical one.
  
−
  the Id. He argues that the primary function of the superego is to repress sexual
+
On the one hand, the [[Law]] as such is a [[symbolic]] [[structure]] which regualtes [[subjectivity]] and in this [[sense]] prevents disintegration.
  
−
  desire for the mother in the resolution of the Oedipus complex. Following
+
On the other hand, the [[law]] of the superego has a "[[senseless]], blind [[character]], of pure imperativeness and simple tyranny.<ref>{{S1}} p. 102</ref>
  
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Freud, he argues that the superego results from Oedipal identification with the
+
<blockquote>Thus "the superego is at one and the same [[time]] the law and its [[destruction]]."<ref>{{S1}} p. 102</ref></blockquote>
  
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father, but he also refers to Melanie Klein's thesis on the maternal origins of an
+
The superego arises from the misunderstanding of the [[law]], from the [[gap]]s in the [[symbolic]] [[chain]], and fills out those [[gap]]s with an [[imaginary]] [[substitute]] that distorts the [[law]].<ref>{{E}} p. 143</ref>
  
−
  archaic form of the superego (Lacan, 1938: 59-60).
+
===Philosophy===
 +
More specifically, in [[linguistic]] terms, "the superego is an imperative."<ref>{{S1}} p. 102</ref>
  
−
      When Lacan returns to the subject of the superego in his 1953-4 seminar, he
+
In 1962, [[Lacan]] argues that this is none other than the [[Kant]]ian [[categorical imperative]].
  
−
  locates it in the symbolic order, as opposed to the imaginary order of the ego:
+
The specific imperative involved is the command "Enjoy!"; the [[superego]] is the [[Other]] insofar as the [[Other]] commands the [[subject]] to [[enjoy]].
  
−
    'the superego is essentially located within the symbolic plane of speech' (Sl,
+
The [[superego]] is thus the expression of the [[superego|will-to-enjoy]] (''volonte de jouissance''), which is not the [[subject]]'s own will but the will of the [[Other]], who assumes the form of [[Sade]]'s "Supreme Being-in-[[Evil]]."<ref>{{Ec}} p. 773</ref>
  
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102). The superego has a close relationship with the Law, but this relationship
+
The [[superego]] is an "[[obscene]], ferocious [[Figure]]"<ref>{{E}} p. 256</ref> which imposes "a senseless, destructive, purely oppressive, almost always anti-legel [[morality]]" on the [[neurotic]] [[subject]].<ref>{{S1}} p. 102</ref>
  
−
  is a paradoxical one. On the one hand, the Law as such is a symbolic structure
+
The [[superego]] is related to the [[voice]], and thus to the invoking [[drive]] and to [[sadism/masochism]].
  
−
    which regulates subjectivity and in this sense prevents disintegration. On the
+
==See Also==
 +
{{See}}
 +
* [[Ego]]
 +
* [[Desire]]
 +
||
 +
* [[Drive]]
 +
* [[Id]]
 +
||
 +
* [[Identification]]
 +
* ''[[Jouissance]]''
 +
||
 +
* [[Law]]
 +
* [[Oedipus complex]]
 +
||
 +
* [[Philosophy]]
 +
* [[Repression]]
 +
||
 +
* [[Structure]]
 +
* [[Symbolic]]
 +
{{Also}}
  
−
  other hand, the law of the superego has a 'senseless, blind character, of pure
+
==References==
−
 
+
<div style="font-size:11px" class="references-small">
−
imperativeness and simple tyranny' (Sl, 102). Thus 'the superego is at one and
+
<references/>
−
 
+
</div>
−
  the same time the law and its destruction' (Sl, 102). The superego arises from
 
−
 
 
−
  the misunderstanding of the law, from the gaps in the symbolic chain, and fills
 
−
 
 
−
attempt to avoid the ambiguity and equivocation of discourse, it is precisely
 
−
 
 
−
this ambiguity which psychoanalysis thrives on.
 
−
 
 
−
      Suggestion has a close relation with TRANSFERENCE (E, 270). If transference
 
−
 
 
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  involves the analysand attributing knowledge to the analyst, suggestion refers
 
−
 
 
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  to a particular way of responding to this attribution. Lacan argues that the
 
−
 
 
−
analyst must realise that he only occupies the position of one who is presumed
 
−
 
 
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(by the analysand) to know, without fooling himself that he really does possess
 
−
 
 
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  the knowledge attributed to him. In this way, the analyst is able to transform
 
−
 
 
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  the transference into 'an analysis of suggestion' (E, 271). Suggestion, on the
 
−
 
 
−
  other hand, arises when the analyst assumes the position of one who really
 
−
 
 
−
  does know.
 
−
 
 
−
      Like Freud, Lacan sees hypnosis as the model of suggestion. In Group
 
−
 
 
−
Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego, Freud shows how hypnotism makes
 
−
 
 
−
  the object converge with the ego-ideal (Freud, 1921). To put this in Lacanian
 
−
 
 
−
  terms, hypnotism involves the convergence of the object a and the I. Psycho-
 
−
 
 
−
analysis involves exactly the opposite, since 'the fundamental mainspring of
 
−
 
 
−
  the analytic operation is the maintenance of the distance between I      - identi-
 
−
 
 
−
  fication - and the a' (S11, 273).
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
superego (surmoi)                The term 'superego' does not appear until quite late
 
−
 
 
−
  in Freud's work, being first introduced in The Ego and the Id (Freud, 1923b). It
 
−
 
 
−
    was in this work that Freud introduced his so-called 'structural model', in
 
−
 
 
−
    which the psyche is divided into three agencies; the EGo, the ID and the
 
−
 
 
−
  superego. However, the concept of a moral agency which judges and censures
 
−
 
 
−
  the ego can be found in Freud's work long before he locates these functions in
 
−
 
 
−
  the superego, such as in his concept of censorship.
 
−
 
 
−
      Lacan's first discussion of the superego comes in his article on the family
 
−
 
 
−
(Lacan, 1938). In this work he distinguishes clearly between the superego and
 
−
 
 
−
  the EGO-IDEAL, terms which Freud seems to use interchangeably in The Ego and
 
−
 
 
−
  the Id. He argues that the primary function of the superego is to repress sexual
 
−
 
 
−
  desire for the mother in the resolution of the Oedipus complex. Following
 
−
 
 
−
Freud, he argues that the superego results from Oedipal identification with the
 
−
 
 
−
father, but he also refers to Melanie Klein's thesis on the maternal origins of an
 
−
 
 
−
  archaic form of the superego (Lacan, 1938: 59-60).
 
−
 
 
−
      When Lacan returns to the subject of the superego in his 1953-4 seminar, he
 
−
 
 
−
  locates it in the symbolic order, as opposed to the imaginary order of the ego:
 
−
 
 
−
    'the superego is essentially located within the symbolic plane of speech' (Sl,
 
−
 
 
−
102). The superego has a close relationship with the Law, but this relationship
 
  
−
  is a paradoxical one. On the one hand, the Law as such is a symbolic structure
+
{{OK}}
−
 
 
−
    which regulates subjectivity and in this sense prevents disintegration. On the
 
−
 
 
−
  other hand, the law of the superego has a 'senseless, blind character, of pure
 
−
 
 
−
imperativeness and simple tyranny' (Sl, 102). Thus 'the superego is at one and
 
−
 
 
−
  the same time the law and its destruction' (Sl, 102). The superego arises from
 
−
 
 
−
  the misunderstanding of the law, from the gaps in the symbolic chain, and fills
 
−
 
 
−
out those gaps with an imaginary substitute that distorts the law (see E, 143;
 
−
 
 
−
    see Lacan's almost identical remarks on the censorship: 'Censorship is always
 
−
 
 
−
    related to whatever, in discourse, is linked to the law in so far as it is not
 
−
 
 
−
    understood'  - S2, 127).
 
−
 
 
−
        More specifically, in linguistic terms, 'the superego is an imperative' (Sl,
 
−
 
 
−
    102). In 1962, Lacan argues that this is none other than the Kantian categorical
 
−
 
 
−
imperative. The specific imperative involved is the command 'Enjoy!'; the
 
−
 
 
−
    superego is the Other insofar as the Other commands the subject to enjoy. The
 
−
 
 
−
    superego is thus the expression of the will-to-enjoy (volontÈ de jouissance),
 
−
 
 
−
    which is not the subject's own will but the will of the Other, who assumes the
 
−
 
 
−
    form of Sade's 'Supreme Being-in-Evil' (Ec, 773). The superego is                  an
 
−
 
 
−
    'obscene, ferocious Figure' (E, 256) which imposes 'a senseless, destructive,
 
−
 
 
−
purely oppressive, almost always anti-legal morality' on the neurotic subject
 
−
 
 
−
    (Sl, 102). The superego is related to the voice, and thus to the invoking drive
 
−
 
 
−
    and tO SADISM/MASOCHISM.
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
The super-ego is the faculty that seeks to police what it deems unacceptable desires; it represents all moral restrictions and is the "advocate of a striving towards perfection" ("New Introductory Lectures" 22.67). Originally, the super-ego had the task of repressing the Oedipus complex and, so, is closely caught up in the psychodramas of the id; it is, in fact, a reaction-formation against the primitive object-choices of the id, specifically those connected with the Oedipus complex. The young heterosexual male deals with the Oedipus complex by identifying with and internalizing the father and his prohibitions: "The super-ego retains the character of the father, while the more intense the Oedipus complex was and the more rapidly it succumbed to repression (under the influence of discipline, religious teaching, schooling and reading), the more exacting later on is the domination of the super-ego over the ego—in the form of conscience or perhaps of an unconscious sense of guilt" ("Ego and the Id" 706). Given its intimate connection with the Oedipus complex, the super-ego is associated with the dread of castration. As we grow into adulthood, various other individuals or organizations will take over the place of the father and his prohibitions (the church, the law, the police, the government). Because of its connection to the id, the superego has the ability to become excessively moral and thus lead to destructive effects. The super-ego is closely connected to the "ego ideal."
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
== References ==
 
−
<references/>
 
  
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[[Category:Lacan]]
+
__NOTOC__
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[[Category:Terms]]
 
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[[Category:Concepts]]
 
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[[Category:Psychoanalysis]]
 

Latest revision as of 00:07, 21 May 2019

French: surmoi

Sigmund Freud

The term "superego" does not appear until quite late in Freud's work, being first introduced in The Ego and the Id (1923).

It was in this work that Freud introduced his so-called "structural model", in which the psyche is divided into three agencies: the ego, the id and the superego.

However, the concept of a moral agency which judges and censures the ego can be found in Freud's work long before he locates these functions in the superego, such as in his concept of censorship.

Jacques Lacan

Lacan's first discussion of the superego comes in his articule on the family.

In this work he distinguishes clearly between the superego and the ego-ideal, terms which Freud seems to use interchangeably in The Ego and the Id.

He argues that the primary function of the superego is to repress sexual desire for the mother in the resolution of the Oedipus complex.

Following Freud, he argues that the superego results from Oedipal identification with the father, but he also refers to Melanie Klein's thesis on the maternal origins of an archaic form of the superego.[1]

Symbolic Law

When Lacan returns to the subject of the superego in his 1953-4 seminar; he locates it in the symbolic order, as opposed to the imaginary order of the ego: the superego is essentially located within the symbolic plane of speech.[2]

The superego has a close relationship with the Law, but this relationship is a paradoxical one.

On the one hand, the Law as such is a symbolic structure which regualtes subjectivity and in this sense prevents disintegration.

On the other hand, the law of the superego has a "senseless, blind character, of pure imperativeness and simple tyranny.[3]

Thus "the superego is at one and the same time the law and its destruction."[4]

The superego arises from the misunderstanding of the law, from the gaps in the symbolic chain, and fills out those gaps with an imaginary substitute that distorts the law.[5]

Philosophy

More specifically, in linguistic terms, "the superego is an imperative."[6]

In 1962, Lacan argues that this is none other than the Kantian categorical imperative.

The specific imperative involved is the command "Enjoy!"; the superego is the Other insofar as the Other commands the subject to enjoy.

The superego is thus the expression of the will-to-enjoy (volonte de jouissance), which is not the subject's own will but the will of the Other, who assumes the form of Sade's "Supreme Being-in-Evil."[7]

The superego is an "obscene, ferocious Figure"[8] which imposes "a senseless, destructive, purely oppressive, almost always anti-legel morality" on the neurotic subject.[9]

The superego is related to the voice, and thus to the invoking drive and to sadism/masochism.

See Also

References

  1. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Les complexes familiaux dans la formation de l'individu. Essai d'analyse d'une fonction en psychologie, Paris: Navarin, 1984 [1938]. p. 59-60
  2. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book I. Freud's Papers on Technique, 1953-54. Trans. John Forrester. New York: Nortion; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988. p. 102
  3. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book I. Freud's Papers on Technique, 1953-54. Trans. John Forrester. New York: Nortion; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988. p. 102
  4. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book I. Freud's Papers on Technique, 1953-54. Trans. John Forrester. New York: Nortion; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988. p. 102
  5. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Écrits: A Selection. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Tavistock Publications, 1977. p. 143
  6. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book I. Freud's Papers on Technique, 1953-54. Trans. John Forrester. New York: Nortion; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988. p. 102
  7. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Écrits. Paris: Seuil, 1966. p. 773
  8. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Écrits: A Selection. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Tavistock Publications, 1977. p. 256
  9. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book I. Freud's Papers on Technique, 1953-54. Trans. John Forrester. New York: Nortion; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988. p. 102


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