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5 - Lacan

An Ego in Pursuit of the Ego

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 September 2019

Michael Billig
Affiliation:
Loughborough University
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Summary

This chapter takes a critical look at Jacques Lacan, the French psycho-analyst who has become a cultural icon. Lacan is an example of what can happen when a theorist puts ideas above the need for evidence and writes obscurely. This chapter examines in detail his famous mirror stage paper, showing that Lacan presents little evidence for his ideas and findings. He refers to the work of psychologists, such as Wolfgang Köhler, but his references do not match what the psychologists actually wrote or claimed to have found. Lacan, by contrast, does not cite the work of Henri Wallon, who outlined very similar ideas about mirror recognition before Lacan. It is suggested that the evidence does not support Lacan’s theory about the way children recognise themselves in the mirror. The example of Lacan is used to illustrate the need for evidence and the dangers of obscure writing.

Type
Chapter
Information
More Examples, Less Theory
Historical Studies of Writing Psychology
, pp. 113 - 152
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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  • Lacan
  • Michael Billig, Loughborough University
  • Book: More Examples, Less Theory
  • Online publication: 12 September 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108696517.005
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To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Lacan
  • Michael Billig, Loughborough University
  • Book: More Examples, Less Theory
  • Online publication: 12 September 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108696517.005
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Lacan
  • Michael Billig, Loughborough University
  • Book: More Examples, Less Theory
  • Online publication: 12 September 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108696517.005
Available formats
×