The Symbolic

The Symbolic

The Symbolic order is a part of the psychoanalytic theory of Jacques Lacan. Although it is an essentially linguistic dimension, Lacan does not simply equate the symbolic with language, since the latter is involved also in the Imaginary and the Real. The symbolic dimension of language is that of the signifier, in which elements have no positive existence but are constituted by virtue of their mutual differences. It is the realm of radical alterity: the Other. The unconscious is the discourse of the Other and thus belongs to the symbolic order. It is also the realm of the Law that regulates desire in the Oedipus complex. The symbolic is both the "pleasure principle" that regulates the distance from das Ding, and the "death drive" which goes beyond the pleasure principle by means of repetition: "the death drive is only the mask of the symbolic order." This register is determinant of subjectivity; for Lacan the symbolic is characterized by the absence of any fixed relations between signifier and signified.

ources

* [http://www.lacan.com/seminars1a.htm The Seminars of Jacques Lacan]
* [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0415135222/ An Introductory Dictionary of Lacanian Psychoanalysis - Dylan Evans]

External links

* [http://www.lacan.com/rolleyes.htm Chronology of Jacques Lacan]
* [http://www.lacan.com/lacan1.htm Lacan Dot Com]


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