The following essay will seek to explain Jacques Lacan’s theory which is made up of the mirror stage, and comprises of three various registers, namely the symbolic, the imaginary and lastly the real. It will then continue to describe his foundational term of the gaze, and move on to explain Lacan’s implementation of the metaphor as well as how ones unconscious is structured like a language. The essay will end off with the history of psychology in relation to its Jewish roots.
Within Lacan’s theory, he describes the mirror stage of human development. Henri Wallon originally conducted the experiment of the mirror stage in order to examine the significant difference in the development of human beings and chimpanzees (Eyers, 2012). Wallon’s experiment played a central role in the influence of Lacan’s theory. Wallon noticed that when introducing a six month old infant to the mirror, the child became fascinated while the chimp would quickly lose interest. Wallon then came to a conclusion that the infant was able to recognise the image in the mirror as itself.
Lacan then developed this theory in saying that the child’s fascination with its own image relates to an essential structure of humans subjectivity. He …show more content…
The symbolic order is primarily about language and narratives (Felluga, 2011).It is associated with the words and writings of a language (Loos, 2002). It places a large emphasis on language because language creates the world of things. Language surrounds us from the moment we come into the world, being present within social structures, as well as our ideals and goals. Therefore, although an infant is not able to fully grasp the concept of language at first, it will act on the entire of the child’s being (Leader, 1995). We are able to identify one object from the other due to it being labelled by language. We are therefore able to understand the external through
Within Lacan’s theory, he describes the mirror stage of human development. Henri Wallon originally conducted the experiment of the mirror stage in order to examine the significant difference in the development of human beings and chimpanzees (Eyers, 2012). Wallon’s experiment played a central role in the influence of Lacan’s theory. Wallon noticed that when introducing a six month old infant to the mirror, the child became fascinated while the chimp would quickly lose interest. Wallon then came to a conclusion that the infant was able to recognise the image in the mirror as itself.
Lacan then developed this theory in saying that the child’s fascination with its own image relates to an essential structure of humans subjectivity. He …show more content…
The symbolic order is primarily about language and narratives (Felluga, 2011).It is associated with the words and writings of a language (Loos, 2002). It places a large emphasis on language because language creates the world of things. Language surrounds us from the moment we come into the world, being present within social structures, as well as our ideals and goals. Therefore, although an infant is not able to fully grasp the concept of language at first, it will act on the entire of the child’s being (Leader, 1995). We are able to identify one object from the other due to it being labelled by language. We are therefore able to understand the external through