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The [[dual relation]] is ([[French]]:''relation duelle'') a basic feature of the [[imaginary]] [[order]].
The [[dual relation]] is the relation between the [[ego]] and the [[specular image]] which [[Lacan]] analyzes in his concept of the [[mirror stage]].
The [[dual relation]] is always characterised by [[illusion]]s of similarity, symmetry and reciprocity.
In contrast to the [[duality]] of the [[imaginary]] [[order]], the [[symbolic]] [[order]] is characterised by [[triad]]s.
In the [[symbolic]] [[order]] all relations involve not two but three terms; the third term is the [[big Other]], which mediates all [[imaginary]] [[dual relation]]s.
The [[illusion]] of reciprocity in the [[imaginary]] [[dual relation]]ship contrasts with the [[symbolic]], which is the realm of 'absolute non-reciprocity.'<ref>Ec, 774</ref>
The [[Oedipus complex]] is the paradigmatic triangular [[structure]], since the [[father]] is introduced into the [[dual relation]] between [[mother]] and [[child]] as a third term.
The Oedipal passage from a [[dual relation]] to a triangular [[structure]] is none other than the passage from the [[imaginary]] to the [[symbolic]] [[order]].
Indeed, the very concept of [[structure]] itself involves a minimum of three terms; "there are always three terms in the structure."<ref>Sl, 218</ref>
The opposition between [[imaginary]] [[dyad]]s and [[symbolic]] [[triad]]s is complicated by [[Lacan]]'s discussion of the '[[imaginary triad]].'<ref>E, 197; S4, 29</ref>
The [[imaginary]] [[triad]] is [[Lacan]]'s attempt to theorise the [[preoedipal stage]] in terms other than those of a merely dual relationship, and refers to the moment preceding the [[Oedipus complex]], when a third element (the [[imaginary phallus]]) circulates between the [[mother]] and [[infant]].
When the [[father]] intervenes in the [[Oedipus complex]] he can therefore be seen either as a third element (between [[mother]] and [[child]]) or as a fourth element (in addition to [[mother]], [[child]] and [[phallus]]).
It is for this reason that Lacan writes that in the [[Oedipus complex]] "it is not a question of a father-mother-child triangle, but of a triangle (father)-phallus-mother-child."<ref>S3, 319</ref>
One of Lacan's most frequent criticisms of the psychoanalytic theory of his day is that it constantly fails to theorise the role of the symbolic, and thus reduces the psychoanalytic encounter to an imaginary dual relationship between [[analyst]] and [[analysand]].
In particular, it reduces analytic [[treatment]] to an ego-to-ego encounter which, because of the [[aggressivity]] inherent in all [[imaginary]] [[dual relation]]s, often degenerates into a '[[fight to the death]]' between [[analyst]] and [[analysand]], a power struggle in which they are 'at daggers drawn.'<ref>see [[Master]]</ref>
Against such a misconception, Lacan insists on the function of the [[symbolic]] in the analytic process, which introduces the [[Other]] as the third term in the analytic encounter.
"It is within a three- rather than two-term relation that we have to formulate the analytic experience."<ref>Sl, ll</ref>
Rather than seeing the treatment as a power struggle in which the analyst must overcome the patient's [[resistance]], which is not psychoanalysis but [[suggestion]], the analyst must realise that both he and the patient are equally subjected to the power of a third term: [[language]] itself.
Lacan's rejection of duality can also be seen in his rejection of all dualistic schemes of thought in favour of triadic schemes; "all two-sided relationships are always stamped with the style of the imaginary."<ref>Lacan, 1956b: 274</ref>
For example instead of the traditional binary opposition between what is [[real]] and what is [[imaginary]], [[Lacan]] proposes a tripartite model of [[real]], [[imaginary]] and [[symbolic]].
Other such triadic schemes are the three clinical [[structures]] of [[neurosis]], [[psychosis]] and [[perversion]]; the three formations of the [[ego]] ([[ego-ideal]], [[ideal ego]] and [[superego]]); the triad [[nature]]-[[culture]]-[[society]]; etc.
However, as if to counteract this trend, Lacan also emphasised the importance of schemes involving four elements (see [[quaternary]]).
==References==
<references/>
==See Also ==
* [[Imaginary]]
* [[Mirror Stage]]
* [[Specular Image]]
* [[Ego]]
* [[Infant]]
* [[Mother]]
[[Category:Imaginary]]
[[Category:Jacques Lacan]]
[[Category:Psychoanalysis]]
[[Category:Concepts]]
[[Category:Terms]]
