Jacques Lacan facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jacques Lacan
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| Born | 13 April 1901 Paris, France
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| Died | 9 September 1981 (aged 80) Paris, France
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| Education | Collège Stanislas (1907–1918) University of Paris (SpDip, 1931; M.D., 1932) |
| Era | 20th-century philosophy |
| Region | Western philosophy |
| School | Psychoanalysis Structuralism Post-structuralism |
| Institutions | University of Paris VIII |
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Main interests
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Psychoanalysis |
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Notable ideas
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Mirror phase The Real The Symbolic The Imaginary Graph of desire Split subject Objet petit a |
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Influences
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Influenced
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Jacques Lacan (born April 13, 1901 – died September 9, 1981) was a French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist. He studied the human mind and how we think. His ideas greatly influenced philosophy and cultural theory. This includes fields like post-structuralism and feminist theory. He also changed how psychoanalysis was practiced.
Contents
Jacques Lacan: A Thinker's Journey
Early Life and Education
Jacques Lacan was born in Paris, France. He was the oldest of three children. His father sold soap and oils. His mother was a very religious Catholic. Lacan went to Collège Stanislas from 1907 to 1918.
He became interested in philosophy. This led him to study the work of Spinoza. Because of this, he stopped being religious and became an atheist. This caused some tension in his family.
In the early 1920s, Lacan joined the artistic groups in Paris. He met famous writers like James Joyce. He also met Charles Maurras, a writer he admired.
In 1920, Lacan started medical school. He focused on psychiatry from 1927 to 1931. He studied at major hospitals in Paris.
1930s: Early Career and Influences
Lacan was part of the Surrealist movement in Paris. He spent time with artists like André Breton and Salvador Dalí. For a while, he was even Pablo Picasso's personal therapist.
In 1931, Lacan became a licensed forensic psychiatrist. The next year, he earned his medical degree. His thesis was about a type of psychosis. It was popular with his Surrealist friends. He even sent a copy to Sigmund Freud, who sent a postcard back.
Lacan began his own psychoanalysis training in 1932. In 1934, he joined the Société psychanalytique de Paris (SPP). He started his private practice in 1936. That same year, he talked about his "Mirror Phase" idea at a big meeting. The meeting chairman ended his talk early. Lacan was upset and left.
He also attended lectures by Alexandre Kojève on Hegel. These lectures helped shape his ideas. Especially his theory of the mirror phase.
In 1938, Lacan wrote a major paper called "La Famille" (The Family). He also became a full member of the SPP. This happened despite some members disagreeing with his new ideas. Lacan married Marie-Louise Blondin in 1934. They had three children.
1940s: War and New Beginnings
During World War II, the SPP group stopped meeting. Lacan served in the military at a hospital in Paris. He also continued his private practice. He moved to a new apartment where he lived until he died.
During the war, he studied Chinese. He earned a degree in it. He did not publish any new work at this time. In 1953, he married Sylvia Bataille.
After the war, the SPP started meeting again. In 1945, Lacan visited England. He met British analysts like Ernest Jones. Their work with groups influenced Lacan. He later emphasized study groups in his own work.
In 1949, Lacan presented a new paper on the mirror stage. He also wrote rules for training new psychoanalysts.
1950s: The Return to Freud
In 1951, Lacan bought a large country house. He used it for work, parties, and his huge library. He even owned a famous painting, L'Origine du monde by Courbet. He kept it hidden behind another painting.
In 1951, Lacan started a weekly seminar in Paris. He called it "a return to Freud." He wanted to re-read Freud's ideas using new knowledge. This included Saussure's ideas about language. It also included Levi-Strauss's ideas about cultures. His seminar became very popular and influential.
In 1953, Lacan became president of the SPP. But he soon resigned. This was because he started using "variable-length sessions." This was a new way of doing therapy. He and some colleagues then formed a new group. It was called the Société Française de Psychanalyse (SFP).
From 1953 to 1964, he held his seminars at the Sainte-Anne Hospital. During this time, he wrote many texts. These were later collected in a book called Écrits in 1966.
1960s: New School and Wider Fame
In 1962, there were talks about the SFP joining a larger group. But the International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA) had a condition. They said Lacan could not train new analysts. This was because of his variable-length sessions. In 1963, the SFP agreed to this.
So, Lacan decided to start his own school. On June 21, 1964, he founded the École Freudienne de Paris (EFP). Many of his students followed him.
With support from other thinkers, Lacan became a lecturer. He started a new seminar in 1964. It was called The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis. He taught his ideas to many students. He divided his new school into three parts:
- Pure psychoanalysis (training and theory).
- Applied psychoanalysis (therapy and clinical work).
- Reviewing Freudian ideas (critique and connections to other sciences).
In 1967, he created a new process called "the Pass." This was a way for students to show they were ready to be analysts.
In 1966, his collected writings, Écrits, were published. This book made Lacan famous to a wider audience. It was so successful that a two-volume edition came out in 1969.
By the 1960s, Lacan was seen as connected to the political left. In May 1968, he supported student protests. His followers even started a psychology department at a new university.
In 1969, Lacan moved his public seminars. He continued teaching until his school closed in 1980.
1970s: Final Years and Global Reach
In his last decade, Lacan continued his popular seminars. He developed new ideas about how people experience pleasure. He also focused more on "the Real." This was a concept about things that are impossible to describe with words.
Lacan kept learning from different subjects. He studied Chinese literature and the work of James Joyce. His book Écrits was translated into other languages. This led to invitations to lecture in Italy, Japan, and the United States. In 1975, he gave talks at famous universities like Yale and MIT.
Last Years
Lacan's health began to fail. It became hard for him to give his long seminars. But he continued teaching into the early 1980s. In January 1980, he closed his school, the EFP.
He then traveled to Caracas to start a new institute. This was his last public speech. His final writings were short documents for this new institute. Jacques Lacan died on September 9, 1981.
Major Concepts
Return to Freud
Lacan's "return to Freud" meant going back to Freud's original writings. He wanted to understand them in a new way. He also disagreed with some later ideas in psychoanalysis.
Lacan believed that things like "slips of the tongue" and jokes showed how language shapes us. He thought language was key to understanding ourselves.
Mirror Stage
The mirror stage was one of Lacan's first big ideas. He said it was important for how our "I" or sense of self forms. He later saw it as a permanent part of how we see ourselves. In this "imaginary order," our own image can capture us.
The mirror stage describes how our ego (our sense of self) develops. This happens when we see ourselves as a whole. Around six months old, a baby can recognize itself in a mirror. But the baby still cannot control its body very well.
The child sees a complete image of itself in the mirror. This whole image is different from its own body, which feels uncoordinated. The child first feels a rivalry with this image. The image's wholeness makes the child feel its own body is fragmented. To fix this, the child identifies with the image. This first identification forms the ego. Lacan called this a moment of joy. It gives a feeling of control. But when the child compares itself to the powerful mother, it can also feel sad.
Lacan called the mirror image "orthopedic." It helps the child imagine overcoming its early lack of control. The idea of a whole body helps form a complete sense of self.
In the mirror stage, a "misunderstanding" creates the ego. Our "me" becomes separate from itself. This happens through an "imaginary" part of us. The mirror stage also involves a "symbolic" part. This is because an adult is usually holding the baby. After seeing its image, the child looks at the adult. It's like asking the adult to confirm this new image.
Three Orders of the Mind
Lacan believed our minds work within a special system. He called its parts the Real, Imaginary, and Symbolic. These are part of every mental function. He later added a fourth part, the sinthome.
The Imaginary
The Imaginary is about images and imagination. It includes ideas of wholeness and sameness. Lacan thought that our relationship with our mirror image makes the ego part of the Imaginary. This means our ego is shaped by how we see ourselves. This relationship is also about narcissism, or self-love.
Lacan said that language also has an Imaginary side. It can twist and change what others say. But the Imaginary is also linked to how we see our own bodies.
Lacan believed that some psychoanalytic methods focused too much on the Imaginary. He suggested using the Symbolic to help people. This means turning images into words. He thought this was the only way for therapy to move forward.
The Symbolic
The Symbolic is about rules and structure. Lacan said that laws and structures need language. So, the Symbolic is a part of language. But it is not just language. Language also has Imaginary and Real parts. The Symbolic part of language is about "signifiers." These are like words or symbols. They get their meaning from how they differ from each other.
The Symbolic is also where we find the "Other." This is like a big, unknown part of ourselves. The unconscious mind is like the language of this Other.
By working with the Symbolic, therapists can help people change. These changes will also affect the Imaginary. This is because the Imaginary is shaped by the Symbolic.
The Real
Lacan's idea of the Real started in 1936. He developed it throughout his life. The Real is not the same as everyday reality. It is also different from the Imaginary and the Symbolic. The Real is outside of language. It cannot be fully described or understood with words.
Unlike the Symbolic, which has opposites (like present/absent), the Real has no absence. It is always there. The Symbolic creates "a cut in the real" when we use words. Words help us make sense of the world. But the Real is what is left over. It resists being put into words.
Lacan called the Real "the impossible." It is impossible to imagine or fully understand. This resistance to words makes the Real feel traumatic. The Real is also linked to anxiety. It is something so basic that words fail us when we face it.
The Sinthome
The term "sinthome" was introduced by Lacan in 1975. It is an old spelling of the word "symptom." Lacan used it to explain how a symptom works in the mind.
He saw a symptom not as a secret message to be decoded. Instead, it was a way for a person to experience something deep inside. He said the symptom is how each person "enjoys" their unconscious mind. This is because the unconscious mind shapes who we are. It is a trace of how a person experiences a certain kind of pleasure.
Desire
Lacan's idea of desire is different from simple needs. Needs are biological, like hunger. We depend on others to meet our needs. To get help, we "demand" it. But when we demand something, we also ask for love.
Even if our need is met, the "demand for love" stays. This is because others cannot give us perfect, unconditional love. Desire is what is left over. It is the difference between our need and our demand for love.
Desire can never be fully satisfied. It is always there. It keeps pushing us. When we reach a desire, it just creates more desire. It's not about getting what we want. It's about keeping the desire going.
Lacan also said that desire is one thing. But it shows up in many ways, which he called "drives." Drives are like parts of this single force called desire.
Drive
Lacan kept Freud's idea that drives are different from instincts. Drives are not about biological needs. They can never be fully satisfied. They don't aim for a specific object. Instead, they circle around it.
The goal of a drive is not to reach an end point. It is to follow its path. It's about the journey, not the destination. The true pleasure comes from the repeating movement of this circle. Lacan saw drives as shaped by culture and symbols. He said a drive is not something we are born with.
Drives are closely linked to desire. Drives are how desire appears in different parts. Desire is one whole thing. Drives are its many parts. A drive is a demand that is not caught up in the give-and-take of desire. It is a "mechanical" push.
Other Key Ideas
- Name of the Father: A concept about the role of authority and law.
- Foreclosure (psychoanalysis): A mental process where something is completely rejected from the mind.
- Lack (manque): The idea that something is always missing in our lives.
- Objet petit a: A mysterious object that causes desire.
- The graph of desire: A diagram Lacan used to explain desire.
- Matheme: A special formula Lacan used to write down his ideas.
- The Four discourses: Ways people communicate and relate to each other.
How He Worked: Clinical Contributions
Variable-Length Sessions
One of Lacan's most important new ideas was the "variable-length psychoanalytic session." This was a key reason for his disagreements with other psychoanalysts. Instead of a fixed 50-minute session, Lacan's sessions could last from a few minutes to several hours. Sometimes, it was even just a few seconds.
Lacan believed that changing the session length could help the patient. It removed the patient's certainty about how long they would be in therapy. This allowed the therapist to intervene at a "critical moment" when an important insight might happen.
When Lacan started this practice, many other psychoanalysts were shocked. Critics pointed out that his short sessions allowed him to see many more patients. This made his practice very busy.
Some argued that while breaking expectations could be good, patients also needed time. They needed space for things to happen naturally. Others felt that making sessions too short might prevent deeper work.
See also
In Spanish: Jacques Lacan para niños
- Centre for Freudian Analysis and Research
- World Association of Psychoanalysis
