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==Freudian Terms==
  
  
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;[[Anal Stage]]
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:Freudian [[stage]] of [[development]], ages 1-3. During this stage the [[child]]'s focus of [[pleasure]] is the anus. There is a [[conflict]] between the child's [[desire]] to expel [[feces]] and the [[parents]]' attempt to toilet train the child.
  
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;[[Analysand]]
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:A person undergoing psychoanalysis.
  
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;[[Cathexis]]
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:Greek [[word]] [[meaning]] "to occupy" or "to invest." In [[Freudian]] [[psychology]], it is used to describe the [[process]] of attaching [[sexual]] ([[psychic]]) [[energy]] (libido) to a ([[particular]]) [[object]] (or [[goal]]).
  
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;[[Displacement]]
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:A [[psychoanalytic]] [[defense]] [[mechanism]] in which one's desire for something inappropriate, such as one's [[mother]], is [[displaced]] onto something acceptable, such as one's wife. The acceptable person shares characteristics with, and takes the [[place]] of, the unacceptable person.
  
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Castration, symbolic: For Lacan the child's submission to the prohibition of incest is linked to his or her entrance into the structure of language. The human being's capacity to symbolize is dependent on his or her acceptance of a loss, the loss of an imaginary complementarity with the mother. This loss consists in giving up one's privileged position as the mother's phallus in order to situate oneself in the social world as someone who "has the phallus" or "does not have it."
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;[[Dream Interpretation]]
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:The use of [[dreams]] as a source of information [[about]] the [[unconscious]] in psychoanalysis.
  
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Desire is the margin that separates the speaking subject from a primordial object that is lost and cannot be refound because it remains beyond the reach of words. Such an object constitutes the cause of desire and is the bearer of the subject's unconscious fantasies. Lacan also defines desire as what remains unfulfilled in the subject after his need, channeled through his demand, has been addressed
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;[[Ego]]
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:English [[translation]] of [[Freud]]'s term ''[[das Ich]]'', or "the I."  One of the [[three]] [[structures]] (components) of the [[mind]] ([[psyche]]) as conceived by psychoanalysis. Obeys the "[[reality]] [[principle]]," (deal with reality) mediating between the [[real]] [[world]] and the desires of the id.
  
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Ego: In Lacanian theory the ego originates in the mirror stage (see Imaginary, below, and Preface). It is not the agent of the reality principle but the seat of the subject's narcissistic investment. Lacan characterizes the ego as a shield whose function is to fend off the disruptions of the subject's unconscious desire and to search in the other's gaze for confirmation of its existence.
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;[[Eros]]
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Imaginary:  The Imaginary is the realm of subjective experience per se, the world as it appears to the subject. Lacan explains the genesis of the imaginary in the mirror stage, the archaic experience in which the child encounters his or her reflection in the gaze of the (m)Other. From that moment on, both the child's perception of the world and his fantasies will be informed by the experience of such a gaze.
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:Freudian term for the sex [[instinct]].
  
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Lack ( manque à être) refers to the loss entailed by symbolic castration. For Freud, the resolution of the Oedipus complex is dependent on the boy's fear of castration and the girl's penis envy, whereas for Lacan, both sexes must undergo the same painful but necessary process that symbolic castration entails.
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;[[Fixation]]
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:In Freudian [[theory]], the process by which libido is attached to various [[objects]] and [[erogenous zones]] (mouth, anus, genitals) during development. Fixation of different amounts of libido at various [[stages]] leads to differences in [[personality]].
  
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Name of the Father ( le nom du père) can be heard as both the no/ non of the father and his name/ nom. This pun contains the two dimensions of what Lacan understands by symbolic castration: the negative side that enforces the prohibition of incest (no, says the father, you may not be your mother's phallus, the exclusive object of her desire) and the positive side, the child's inscription in the generational order (as the son or daughter of a father and a mother), which locates the child in the social world, the realm of language. (See also Paternal Metaphor.)
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;[[Free Association]]
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:In psychoanalysis, a [[technique]] in which the [[patient]] generates [[words]] by [[association]]. Supposed to act as a window into the unconscious.
  
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Other: The Other (also called the Symbolic) refers to what is beyond the "real" or "imaginary" significant others; that is, what is exterior and anterior to the subject but determines it nevertheless. It is the locus of psychoanalysis. The subject's unconscious "speaks" a language that has its roots in the Other.
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;[[Genital Stage]]
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:The stage after [[puberty]] in Freudian theory; lasts throughout [[life]]. Focus is on reproduction and caring for the next generation.
  
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Paternal Metaphor: The paternal metaphor not only refers to the double meaning of the non/nom du père but also points toward language per se as a metaphor for what has been irreversibly lost when the child becomes a speaking subject. In speaking, the subject does not know that he or she is symbolizing, through language, the object of his or her primordial yearning. The paternal metaphor is a symbolic operation that cuts the imaginary bond between mother and child and grants the boy or the girl the ability to symbolize this loss through words. Therefore, the fear of losing the penis or the frustration at not having it is grounded not in our "anatomical destiny" but in the dynamics at work within the intersubjective realm in which mother, father, and child are inscribed.  
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;[[Hysteria]]
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:A disorder common in Freud's [[female]] [[patients]] in turn-of-the-century [[Vienna]], characterized by a grab-bag of somatic [[symptoms]]: limb [[paralysis]], motor automatisms, sensory deficits, atonia, etc.
  
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;[[Id]]
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:English translation of Freud's term ''[[das Es]]'', or "the It." One of the three structures (components) of the mind (psyche) in psychoanalysis, it is [[responsible]] for [[instinctual]] urges and is completely unconscious. Of these structures, it is the most [[primitive]]; the source of sex and [[death]] [[drives]]; obeys the "[[pleasure principle]]."
  
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Phallus: The organizing principle of the dynamic of the subject's desire. It is the signifier par excellence in relation to which the subject will assume his or her sexual identity. If, in the individual's fantasy world, the phallus acts as an imaginary object that the subject will first want to incarnate and then move on to have (or to seek in a romantic partner), within the symbolic order -- that is, in the unconscious realm -- the phallus operates as the signifier of a loss, the symbol of the lack of complementarity between the sexes. Lacan makes a clear distinction between the penis and the phallus.
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;[[Latency Period]]
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:In Freudian theory, a period of [[repressed]] [[sexuality]] between the [[Oedipal]] crisis and puberty (the [[genital]] period).
  
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Real: The real is reality in its unmediated form. It is what disrupts the subject's received notions about himself and the world around him. Thus it characteristically appears to the subject as a shattering enigma, because in order to make sense of it he or she will have to symbolize it, that is, to find signifiers that can ensure its control.
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;[[Libido]]
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:In Freudian theory, sexual energy. Each person has only a certain amount of libido that can be "cathected" and fixated onto various objects. [[Psychic energy]] derived from the sex [[drive]].
  
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Signifier: An element of discourse, operative at the conscious and unconscious levels, which represents and determines the subject. The signifier does not designate a fixed referent (a signified) but always refers to other signifiers. That is to say, the relation between a (signified) concept and its acoustic image (signifier) does not result from a particular affinity between a word and its referent but is determined by the other signs that compose a given language. In that sense, the arbitrary relation between signifier and signified shows that language is an entity with its own laws and regulations that operate independently of the realm of existence that it appears to represent. For Lacan, the bar or dividing line between the signifier and the signified (S/s) expresses the problematic relation between what is said consciously and what is barred from conscious discourse.
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;[[Neurology]]
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:The field of [[medicine]] concerned with brain disease and brain injuries. Distinct from neuroscience (the [[scientific]] study of the brain) and neuropsychology (the study of [[psychological]] disorders and impairments caused by brain dysfunction).
  
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Subject: The subject is the human being as constituted by the knotting of what Lacan calls the Real, the Imaginary, and the Symbolic. This triad breaks down the classical dichotomies between nature and culture, individual and society, and inner and outer reality. The Real, the Imaginary, and the Symbolic together weave the subject's reality at all times. These categories are always intertwined and are never processed by the subject in their pure or isolated form. Only a psychotic outbreak can undo the knotting of the triad. More specifically, the subject in Lacanian theory refers to the subject of the individual's unconscious desire
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;[[Neurosis]]
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:A [[mental]] disorder that involves [[distortion]], but not outright [[rejection]], of reality. [[Neuroses]] include [[anxiety]] disorders, "hysteria," "neurasthenia," and obsessive-compulsive disorders.
  
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Symbolic: The symbolic order is the order of language and culture, the synchronic structure in which the child is unknowingly inscribed. It is a
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;[[Oedipal Complex]]
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constraining structure imposed on the child through the Law of the Name of the Father. The repression that this law entails causes the formation of the unconscious. This concept of the symbolic was first proposed by the structural anthropologist Lévi-Strauss, who demonstrated how the permutations at work in the elementary structures of kinship not only establish the prohibition of incest as the law that transforms nature into culture, but also reveal that language and culture are both shaped by a symbolic system operating on an unconscious level.
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:Takes place during the [[phallic]] stage in Freud's [[developmental]] theory. Boys [[want]] to kill [[father]] and [[sleep]] with mother because of sexual attraction to mother; girls want to kill mother and sleep with father because of "[[penis]] [[envy]]." The crisis leads to [[identification]] with the same-sex parent and development of superego. A persistent set of unconscious beliefs and desires that results, according to Freud, from the [[childhood]] repression of the desire to sleep with one's mother and kill one's father.
  
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-34-
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;[[Oral Stage]]
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:The first stage in Freud's developmental theory, in which the focus of pleasure is the mouth.
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;[[Penis Envy]]
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:Name used to describe girls' supposed desire to have a penis.
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;[[Phallic Stage]]
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:Third stage in Freud's developmental theory, during which the Oedipal crisis takes place and the superego develops. Focus is on the genitals, specifically the penis.
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;[[Physiology]]
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:The field of [[biology]] concerned with the activities and functions of [[biological]] systems (as opposed to anatomy, which is concerned with the structures of biological systems).
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;[[Physicalism]] ([[materialism]])
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:The [[philosophical]] [[position]] that all phenomena can be explained by reference to [[physical]] (or "[[material]]") objects and the laws that govern their interactions.
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;[[Pleasure Principle]]
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:The "instant [[gratification]]" policy followed by the id. The principle obeyed by the id, which attempts to accomplish [[infantile]] wishes such as the [[wish]] to have sex with one's mother and kill one's father.
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;[[Projection]]
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:A psychoanalytic [[defense mechanism]] by which an unwanted desire is attributed to [[others]] instead of the [[self]]. If you [[hate]] your father, for example, you might [[project]] your own [[feelings]] onto him and become convinced that your father hates you.
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;[[Psychoanalysis]]
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:A method of [[psychotherapy]] and psychological theorizing founded by [[Sigmund Freud]] in turn-of- the-century Vienna. Focuses on early life experiences, basic [[instincts]], and the interplay of unconscious forces (thus a kind of "psychodynamic" theory). Originally a method of treating [[people]] with [[neurotic]] disorders invented and made popular by Sigmund Freud. Also a general method of [[interpreting]] [[behavior]], art, [[history]], etc., as [[being]] rooted in unconscious (usually sexual) desires.
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;[[Psychoanalyst]]
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:A person who performs psychoanalysis. Often a medical doctor, though not always, especially after the 1960s in [[Europe]].
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;[[Psychodynamic]]
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:General term referring to Freudian and post-Freudian theories that postulated the interplay of forces in the unconscious as the major determinants of behavior.
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;[[Psychosis]]
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: A mental disorder that involves outright rejection or [[denial]] of reality. [[Psychotic]] [[conditions]] include [[schizophrenia]], very severe [[depression]], and manic- depressive disorder.
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;[[Reaction formation]]
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:A psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which an unwanted desire is converted into its opposite; e.g. a [[hatred]] of one's father is converted into a powerful (neurotic) [[love]] for him.
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;[[Reality Principle]]
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:In Freud's theory, the principle followed by the ego. Accommodates the constraints of reality while still trying to [[satisfy]] the id's urges and the superego's ideals. The principle obeyed by the ego, which attempts to reconcile the id's desires with reality.
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;[[Repression]]
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:The process by which the ego prevents unwanted desires from emerging into [[consciousness]]. According to psychoanalysis, partially-successful repression is the [[cause]] of neuroticism.
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;[[Sublimation]]
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:The use of psychic energy generated by an unwanted or inappropriate [[desire,]] such as the desire to have sex with one's mother, for an acceptable [[activity]] such as art, [[science]], [[good]] works, etc.
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;[[Superego]]:English translation of Freud's term "Über-Ich", or "over-I." It is partly [[conscious]], and it enforces rules and imposes [[guilt]]. One of the three structures (components) in the [[psychoanalytic theory]] of mind (psyche), the [[super-ego]] represents internalized [[social]] rules. The superego develops during the [[phallic stage]] and is the internalized [[representation]] of [[society]]'s morals and goals; the [[conscience]].
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;[[Thanatos]]:Freudian [[name]] for the "death" instinct; the [[human]] tendency towards [[aggression]], stagnation, and [[destruction]].

Latest revision as of 00:25, 21 May 2019

Freudian Terms

Anal Stage
Freudian stage of development, ages 1-3. During this stage the child's focus of pleasure is the anus. There is a conflict between the child's desire to expel feces and the parents' attempt to toilet train the child.
Analysand
A person undergoing psychoanalysis.
Cathexis
Greek word meaning "to occupy" or "to invest." In Freudian psychology, it is used to describe the process of attaching sexual (psychic) energy (libido) to a (particular) object (or goal).
Displacement
A psychoanalytic defense mechanism in which one's desire for something inappropriate, such as one's mother, is displaced onto something acceptable, such as one's wife. The acceptable person shares characteristics with, and takes the place of, the unacceptable person.
Dream Interpretation
The use of dreams as a source of information about the unconscious in psychoanalysis.
Ego
English translation of Freud's term das Ich, or "the I." One of the three structures (components) of the mind (psyche) as conceived by psychoanalysis. Obeys the "reality principle," (deal with reality) mediating between the real world and the desires of the id.
Eros
Freudian term for the sex instinct.
Fixation
In Freudian theory, the process by which libido is attached to various objects and erogenous zones (mouth, anus, genitals) during development. Fixation of different amounts of libido at various stages leads to differences in personality.
Free Association
In psychoanalysis, a technique in which the patient generates words by association. Supposed to act as a window into the unconscious.
Genital Stage
The stage after puberty in Freudian theory; lasts throughout life. Focus is on reproduction and caring for the next generation.
Hysteria
A disorder common in Freud's female patients in turn-of-the-century Vienna, characterized by a grab-bag of somatic symptoms: limb paralysis, motor automatisms, sensory deficits, atonia, etc.
Id
English translation of Freud's term das Es, or "the It." One of the three structures (components) of the mind (psyche) in psychoanalysis, it is responsible for instinctual urges and is completely unconscious. Of these structures, it is the most primitive; the source of sex and death drives; obeys the "pleasure principle."
Latency Period
In Freudian theory, a period of repressed sexuality between the Oedipal crisis and puberty (the genital period).
Libido
In Freudian theory, sexual energy. Each person has only a certain amount of libido that can be "cathected" and fixated onto various objects. Psychic energy derived from the sex drive.
Neurology
The field of medicine concerned with brain disease and brain injuries. Distinct from neuroscience (the scientific study of the brain) and neuropsychology (the study of psychological disorders and impairments caused by brain dysfunction).
Neurosis
A mental disorder that involves distortion, but not outright rejection, of reality. Neuroses include anxiety disorders, "hysteria," "neurasthenia," and obsessive-compulsive disorders.
Oedipal Complex
Takes place during the phallic stage in Freud's developmental theory. Boys want to kill father and sleep with mother because of sexual attraction to mother; girls want to kill mother and sleep with father because of "penis envy." The crisis leads to identification with the same-sex parent and development of superego. A persistent set of unconscious beliefs and desires that results, according to Freud, from the childhood repression of the desire to sleep with one's mother and kill one's father.
Oral Stage
The first stage in Freud's developmental theory, in which the focus of pleasure is the mouth.
Penis Envy
Name used to describe girls' supposed desire to have a penis.
Phallic Stage
Third stage in Freud's developmental theory, during which the Oedipal crisis takes place and the superego develops. Focus is on the genitals, specifically the penis.
Physiology
The field of biology concerned with the activities and functions of biological systems (as opposed to anatomy, which is concerned with the structures of biological systems).
Physicalism (materialism)
The philosophical position that all phenomena can be explained by reference to physical (or "material") objects and the laws that govern their interactions.
Pleasure Principle
The "instant gratification" policy followed by the id. The principle obeyed by the id, which attempts to accomplish infantile wishes such as the wish to have sex with one's mother and kill one's father.
Projection
A psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which an unwanted desire is attributed to others instead of the self. If you hate your father, for example, you might project your own feelings onto him and become convinced that your father hates you.


Psychoanalysis
A method of psychotherapy and psychological theorizing founded by Sigmund Freud in turn-of- the-century Vienna. Focuses on early life experiences, basic instincts, and the interplay of unconscious forces (thus a kind of "psychodynamic" theory). Originally a method of treating people with neurotic disorders invented and made popular by Sigmund Freud. Also a general method of interpreting behavior, art, history, etc., as being rooted in unconscious (usually sexual) desires.
Psychoanalyst
A person who performs psychoanalysis. Often a medical doctor, though not always, especially after the 1960s in Europe.
Psychodynamic
General term referring to Freudian and post-Freudian theories that postulated the interplay of forces in the unconscious as the major determinants of behavior.
Psychosis
A mental disorder that involves outright rejection or denial of reality. Psychotic conditions include schizophrenia, very severe depression, and manic- depressive disorder.
Reaction formation
A psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which an unwanted desire is converted into its opposite; e.g. a hatred of one's father is converted into a powerful (neurotic) love for him.
Reality Principle
In Freud's theory, the principle followed by the ego. Accommodates the constraints of reality while still trying to satisfy the id's urges and the superego's ideals. The principle obeyed by the ego, which attempts to reconcile the id's desires with reality.
Repression
The process by which the ego prevents unwanted desires from emerging into consciousness. According to psychoanalysis, partially-successful repression is the cause of neuroticism.
Sublimation
The use of psychic energy generated by an unwanted or inappropriate desire, such as the desire to have sex with one's mother, for an acceptable activity such as art, science, good works, etc.
Superego
English translation of Freud's term "Über-Ich", or "over-I." It is partly conscious, and it enforces rules and imposes guilt. One of the three structures (components) in the psychoanalytic theory of mind (psyche), the super-ego represents internalized social rules. The superego develops during the phallic stage and is the internalized representation of society's morals and goals; the conscience.
Thanatos
Freudian name for the "death" instinct; the human tendency towards aggression, stagnation, and destruction.
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