Conversely, the assumption of the [[Symbolic]] phallus by the man is only possible on the basis of the prior assumption of his own castration.
Lacan goes on in 1961 to state that the [[Symbolic]] phallus is that which appears in the place of the lack of the signifier in the Other.<ref>S8, 278-8 1</ref>
It is no ordinary signifier but the [[Real]] presence of desire itself.<ref>S8, 290</ref>
In 1973 he states that the [[Symbolic]] phallus is 'the signifier which does not have a signified'.<ref>S20, 75</ref>
The [[Symbolic]] phallus is written <fi in Lacanian algebra.
However, Lacan warns his students that the complexity of this symbol might be missed if they simply identify it with the [[Symbolic]] phallus.<ref>S8, 296</ref>
The symbol is more correctly understood as designating 'the phallic function'.<ref>S8, 298</ref>
In the early 1970s Lacan incorporates this symbol of the phallic function in his formulae of sexuation.
Using predicate logic to articulate the problems of sexual difference, Lacan devises two formulae for the masculine position and two formulae for the feminine position.
All four formulae revolve around the phallic function, which is here equivalent with the function of castration.
==Criticisms of Lacan ==
