Jacques Lacan’s Psychoanalytic Theory
Jacques Lacan was born April 13, 1901, died September 9, 1981. He was an influential figure in psychoanalysis, often referred to as “the French Freud” (1). Lacan integrated Freud’s ideas with structuralism, philosophy, and other disciplines.
In his early work in psychiatry, he published a doctoral thesis on paranoid psychosis in 1932. Lacan also collaborated with surrealists and dadaists; influenced by Hegel and Freud. Lacan introduced the “mirror stage” theory at the 1936 International Psychoanalytic Association (IPA) conference. Later, Lacan was expelled from the IPA in 1963 due to his use of variable-length sessions in psychoanalysis. He also split from the Société Parisienne de Psychanalyse (SPP) in 1953 due to disagreements about psychoanalytic training.
His career milestones consist of the development of the “mirror stage” theory, the symbolic, and the unconscious as structured like a language. His Seminars also became highly influential, especially after 1953, with growing audiences from diverse fields. In addition, his work with structuralism (influenced by Saussure and Lévi-Strauss) significantly shaped psychoanalysis.
Some of the core concepts we know from Lacan today is the mirror stage, which explains the development of the self via recognition in a mirror, crucial in ego formation. The concepts of the Symbolic, Imaginary, and Real per Lacan’s tripartite register theory. In regards to language and the unconscious, he further posited that the unconscious is structured like a language. Sexuation is another important concept, whereby Lacan’s theory explains how gendered subjectivity is shaped by symbolic structures.
Some of Lacan’s most well-known works are the publication of Écrits in 1966, a collection of key essays, and his seminars, especially on psychoanalysis, structuralism, and post-structuralism. In his later years, Lacan cultivated an interest in formalism, logic, and topology, leading to a focus on mathemes and abstract structures in his late work. Here, he explored sexual difference (sexuation) and the Real in his final seminars.
Lacan disbanded his École freudienne de Paris in 1980, triggering factional disputes. A year later, Lacan died in 1981; his son-in-law Jacques-Alain Miller took control of publishing his works. Lacan’s thoughts to this day remain influential. Lacan’s teachings influenced French feminism, post-structuralism, and many contemporary philosophers, including Foucault, Deleuze, and Kristeva.
Lacan’s Register Theory
Lacan formulates three registers of the Imaginary, the Symbolic, and the Real. That is his central framework; these three registers form the backbone of Lacan’s psychoanalytic theory. Lacan’s intellectual development is often segmented by the dominance of one register over time: the Imaginary in early Lacan (1930s-1940s), the Symbolic in middle Lacan (1950s), and the Real in late Lacan (1960s-1970s). By the 1970s, Lacan also emphasized their interdependence using the Borromean knot metaphor.
The Imaginary, the Symbolic, and the Real can be considered as the three fundamental dimensions of psychical subjectivity. Lacan connects the Imaginary to our everyday self-awareness and how we see ourselves and others. It involves our fantasies and assumptions about who we are and how we think others see us. This register is key to understanding concepts like transference, fantasy, and ego, especially in Lacan’s idea of ego-formation through the mirror stage.
The Imaginary can be characterized as that which deals with self-awareness, the formation of the ego (e.g., mirror stage), and perceptions of others. There is also a dependency on the Symbolic, as the Imaginary experiences are shaped by symbolic socio-linguistic structures. In discussing the Imaginary, there may arise category mistakes, as the Imaginary often confuses the Real for the Symbolic and vice versa. The Imaginary can be described as providing necessary illusions. The illusions of the Imaginary are intrinsic and unavoidable, but they have real, concrete effects.
In Lacanian theory, the Symbolic refers to the social and cultural structures that shape our lives, such as language, laws, customs, and institutions. It is like the “framework” of society that we are born into, which influences our experiences and interactions. This framework helps organize and guide our behavior, similar to how Hegel’s idea of “objective spirit” describes a collective consciousness.
When speaking of the Symbolic, we are concerned with structure and language, particularly with linguistic structures, but also areas such as norms and laws. The symbolic order (sometimes labeled “the big Other”) here corresponds to a collective social framework. In other words, the Symbolic order has been pre-configured by society before the individual is born, shaping subjectivity, and thus we may speak of cultural and historical influences on this order.
The unconscious is structured like language (langage, not langue), and its exploration happens through speech. Lacan uses “un langage” rather than “une langue.” While both French terms translate as “language” in English, “langage” refers to the abstract concept of language, encompassing the rules and structures common to all languages. In contrast, “langue” refers to specific natural languages like French, German, or English, and can also mean “tongue.”
So when Lacan talks about the unconscious being “structured like a language,” he does not mean it is structured like any particular language such as French or English. Instead, he means it is organized in a way that is similar to the general rules and structures of language itself.
Turning to the Lacanian concept of the Real, it has an elusive nature, as the Real resists being fully captured by Imaginary-Symbolic representations, remaining beyond comprehension. The Real disrupts both reality and language, embodying an impossibility relative to the subject’s reality.
Even Lacan’s descriptions of the Real shift across his career, complicating efforts to define it precisely. Lacan’s early use of the term Real refers to material beings as they are in themselves, similar to Kant’s “things-in-themselves.” The Real is what exists beyond or beneath what we perceive directly, beyond phenomenal appearances accessible to first-person awareness. The later Lacan argues that the Real disrupts Symbolic formations but it is not a call for mysticism, rather, it marks the limits of representation and understanding.
The Mirror Stage, the Ego, and the Subject
The mirror stage is a stage in early childhood, usually between 6 and 18 months, where a child recognizes their own image in a mirror. This development of the ego marks an imagined sense of wholeness, but this identification is based on misrecognition. Lacan calls this image the “Ideal-I” or “ideal ego,” and it marks the child’s first sense of self-identity. This concept of the mirror stage explains the genesis and function of the ego. It posits that the ego is an object, not a subject, contrary to ego psychologists’ view of the ego as autonomous.
Lacan here distinguishes between the ego (an objectified entity) and the subject (an unconscious negativity that defies ego-level identification). The infant’s jubilant recognition of their image promises unity, but it is unattainable, initiating a lifelong pursuit of imagined mastery and harmony.
In Lacan’s theory, the imago-Gestalt is the image of wholeness that an infant sees in the mirror and feels a sense of recognition and joy about. It represents the child’s first experience of a complete self-image, which helps to form their sense of identity. This image is not just about seeing themselves but also about the way others (like parents) encourage and reinforce this recognition through their reactions and comments. This interaction influences how the child starts to build their ego, blending the visual image with the words and gestures of those around them.
However, the ego is alienating because it incorporates the projected desires and fantasies of others, particularly parents, shaping the child’s self-perception. To Lacan, the ego represents misrecognition because it is based on external narratives, desires, and fantasies imposed by others. In this context, Lacan introduces the concept of “extimacy” to describe how the ego is intimately alien, formed from external influences.
Otherness, the Oedipus Complex, and Sexuation
Per Lacanian theory, the lowercase “other” refers to the ego and alter-egos, both imagined and alienating. The ego and others are understood through fictional projections and transference. The capital “Other” refers to the Symbolic order and Real dimensions. The Symbolic big Other represents overarching socio-linguistic structures, while the Real Other is the unknowable, enigmatic Other, especially evident in love and psychosis.
The Oedipus complex reflects the child’s struggle to situate itself within the orders of Otherness. The mother represents a Real Other, and the father symbolizes the answer to the question of what the mother wants. Here, the father symbolizes authority and law, structuring the child’s entry into the social world. Lacan emphasizes the importance of socio-cultural, rather than biological, roles.
In relation to sexuation, Lacan introduces the Real of sexual difference, which resists full symbolic translation. Masculine and feminine positions are asymmetrical, forming incompatible yet interacting libidinal economies.
The Need-Demand-Desire Triad
Lacan builds on Freud’s concepts to explore the complex dynamics of desire, drive, and the role of socio-symbolic influences. He extends Freud’s theory of drive (Trieb), focusing on the motivational mechanisms of psychical life, specifically distinguishing between “need,” “demand,” and “desire.”
The need-demand-desire triad consists of, first, the need, which are the biologically innate requirements for survival, but humans are helpless at birth and need others to fulfill them. Second, demands manifest via interaction with caregivers, whereby needs are transformed into socially mediated demands. Lastly, Lacan defines desire as the remainder when need is subtracted from demand. Desire seeks something beyond the satisfaction of needs, primarily love.
Under this theoretical framework, Lacan reworks Freud’s concept of castration into “symbolic castration,” referring to the impact of socio-symbolic contexts on individuals, leading to the alienation of desires from natural needs.
Lacan distinguishes between desire, which is never fully satisfied, and drive, which finds satisfaction in repetitive, aimless pursuit. Another relevant term is that of jouissance, which is used to describe the pleasure beyond the pleasure principle, linked to the death drive. Jouissance derives from the painful repetition of unfulfilled desire.
Fantasy and ‘objet petit a’
Lacan sees fantasy as structuring desire, positioning the subject ($) in relation to an elusive object-cause of desire (objet petit a). Objet petit a is the unattainable, virtual object that the subject desires but never fully attains, creating a persistent gap between desire and its object.
Each subject has a unique unconscious fantasy that shapes how they relate to their desires and the desire of the Other. The role of the Other plays a central role in shaping demands and desires. Desires are structured by the question of what the Other desires and how the subject positions itself in relation to the Other’s desire.
Consequently, the Symbolic Order carries a noteworthy importance in shaping the subject’s relationship with need, demand, and desire, as well as their libidinal economy.
Lacan’s Schema L was introduced in 1955 and resembles the Greek letter lambda (Λ). Its main purpose is to show how communication between the subject and the symbolic order (the Other) is disrupted by the ego and its image (the imaginary). In simpler terms, Lacan argues that our understanding of the world is filtered and distorted by our own self-image and the ways we perceive others. The “Other” reaches us in a fragmented, inverted form due to this interference.
In summary, Lacan’s major contributions include the “mirror stage”, which outlines the development of the ego through self-recognition in infancy, and his triadic register theory of the Imaginary, the Symbolic, and the Real. Lacan’s work on sexual difference (sexuation), desire, and the concept of “objet petit a” also demonstrates his departure from Freud. For Lacan, desire is a pursuit of the unattainable, always structured by the elusive object-cause of desire, shaped by the Other. His ideas, today, remain influential in contemporary psychoanalysis, philosophy, and cultural theory.
Bibliography
Lacan, J. (2006). Écrits: The first complete edition in English (B. Fink, H. Fink, & R. Grigg, Trans.). W. W. Norton & Company.
