Jacques Lacan - The Mirror Stage

In this video, I explore the theory behind Psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan's The Mirror Stage.
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[@spotmebro3589]

This video is very well put together. The background music even helps me stay focused on what you are saying. I will be pledging some $ towards your channel. Thanks. Keep up the good work.

[@ThenNow]

Thank you so much! You will be my first ever contributor! Any recommendations on future video ideas?

[@spotmebro3589]

I am a big fan of anything having to do with Literary Theory, which is what brought me to your channel. Also, are you able to post a link somewhere for contributions? I was not able to find one. Thanks!

[@ThenNow]

I'm hoping to do a few more on Lacan and hopefully, one on Derrida as there's really not much of them on KZbin from what I can see. I've updated the description to include the Patreon link which is: patreon.com/user?u=3517018 Again, thank you so much!

[@chanceboyer8949]

I'm sorry but the background music is very corny and thus distracting. I don't watch YoutTube videos assuming they'll have a cinematic score. Pandering.

[@spencerjadenmoore]

What is the music track Mr. Then & Now? I want to listen to it while I walk down the street and ponder the mirror stage. Thanks for the vid!

[@mediamadness97]

Hey man, huge fan of the channel and been following for bit. Just wanted to say that I am taking a course in psychoanalysis and philosophy, and my prof assigned us this video. So not only are you making philosophy accessible, but professors of philosophy are using your work to teach students! Keep making great stuff homie.

[@annikagralke8502]

is the professor sending him money on patreon though?

[@aysoodaagh3167]

I'm so utterly and deeply grateful for having found your channel. I'm watching all of your videos and taking some notes and summerizing them in my mother tongue which is Persian. I just can't thank you enough.

[@dandelioncrush9271]

This has just saved me so many hours of anxiety over my exam on Friday. Thank you!

[@karansheth8057]

dandelioncrush what subject you study?

[@harmpwns]

Been subscribed tot your channel for about two years now. Got me to commit to my passion for history and started my bachelor. Incredibly enough my professor suggested that we watch this video for our cultural history course. Full circle

[@joshuabraun2838]

Pls more Lacan vids. This is v helpful

[@babykekse5137]

My English teacher told us to research the Mirror Stage and having never heard of the term, this was a great introduction. Thanks.

[@jdivision79]

excellent vid about an insanely complex subject. Thanks

[@SUAVEcritic]

Your use of language is excellent. I really appreciate it!

[@PAARDEBLOEEM]

Your voice is so calming

[@evanwalton1574]

Great video! I am currently studying lit theory and this helped me gain a better understanding of the mirror stage as it pertains to literature. Thank you for the breakdown.

[@ntinetaspi]

What did you understand?

[@shiragoren6090]

such a good video, really helped me understand this concept! thank you so much :)

[@arribas72]

"For Lacan psychoanalysis was about helping the patient to recover his/her authentic self"- That is so totally wrong. That is exactly what psychoanalysis is not about. That is anti-lacanian/Freudian, through and through.

[@hannahkaya2652]

I agree. I also think it's misleading to say that there exists, for Lacan, a hidden, coherent and stable "real" subject behind the imagined self.

[@aungphyoezin3758]

The real is in and out of the self. The truth is simply out there. Any recognition of an organized whole is human apriori that falsely remark the very nature of the existence. Lacan in the first place invented the word Extimacy in a way that we dont need to dig up the inner or authentic self. What is authentic is not only intimate either

[@lugus9261]

They didn't exactly say that

[@BatOrgilBatsaikhan]

"Existence is a product of language: language brings into existence (makes them part of human reality), things which had no existence prior to being ciphered, symbolized, or put into words. The real, therefore, does not exist, since it precedes language. Lacan serves a separate term for it, from Heidegger: it "ex-sists." Exists apart from our reality. The real as that which has not yet been symbolized remains to be symbolized or even resists symbolization. The goal of the analysand is to put into words that which has remained unsymbolized, to verbalize experiences which may have occurred before the analysand was able to think about them, speak of them, or formulate them in any way at all. It is an analyst's job to intervene in the patient's real, not in the patient's view of reality.

[@miguelmeloqueiroz3553]

For what it's worth, some parts have the music louder than the voice. That could maybe be corrected in new videos.

[@lucofparis4819]

I'm generally amazed by the amount of work and craft that goes into your videos, even the first ones. For that I say, thank you. I also appreciate this little tidbit on Lacan's ideas, even though this is only a soundbite and at no point a critique or endorsement thereof. That being said, I must admit that I'm quite skeptical of psychoanalysis, especially its casual way of justifying its own postulates. Very often it seems to boil down to 'trust me bro, I'm a scientist!' And that's quite ironic for a discipline with such a focus on self-delusion and repressed truths; almost as though psychoanalysts had internalized their own con artistry and were just projecting all along.

[@hellothereiamivo]

This is the best explanation of Lacan I've come so far.

[@ulyssemarquet1790]

so glad i found this absolutely amazing channel

[@MentalDoomer]

Came from Quetzal, stayed for the content. Nice job.

[@maryanne2108]

Great explanation! I finally have a clear idea of what the mirror stage is. Thank you

[@noramandour581]

Please I want to understand Lacan's theory of demand in the following sentence [With the outbreak of Magda's one syllabic cry "Maaaaa, Maaaa” hummed wildly by the electric wires against which she is hurled, Rosa has been vanquished by unspeakable fear since there is nothing further she can do at this awful moment without endangering her own life. In light of the fact that Magda's first cry of 'Maaaaa' is her first act of communication, which is supposedly, according to the psychoanalytic perspective of Jacques Lacan, "a demand rather than a mere wail addressed to the mother, out of which the entire verbal universe is spun" (Johnson‏, "The Poet's Mother" 65),

[@NymPLUS]

"AK12 trusted you, I though I could too... SO WHY THE BLOODY HELL, DOES LADY GRAY KNOW YOU!?"

[@ottodachat]

I was in Paris 1978 and Lacan was still giving lectures on psychoanalysis, I still regret not attending his talks. Also, must read, the analysis of The Gaze and the Holbein painting of 2 dukes? or were they princes? His Purloined Letter in his Ecrits is a classic as well

[@WMUA211]

Just perfect! You made it sound so simple!! Thank you!!

[@Ezekieljsw]

Is the language you're using regarding the 'ID'/unconscious/pre-mirror-stage-subject being the 'real' or 'authentic' self reflective of Lacan's own stance, or are you simplifying for the sake of communicating the key ideas? As in, did Lacan concieve of this pre-mirror stage subject in terms of authenticity? I worry that framing it in this manner could be potentially misleading - I am wary of positing a 'true self' that exists to be discovered (what does that even mean?) and I would like to know whether this is inherent in Lacan's work or if it's just one interpretation. Does Lacan ascribe notions like truth or authenticity to a subject, and if so, how? Thanks; this is a helpful overview, nonetheless.

[@Emily-tb5dd]

this video was very helpful i'd never thought properly about the connection with freud but this was explained really well, in regards to the 'other' i wonder if there's any information on how much one's language effects one's identity as it's our way of understanding the unconscious and the medium for thought- is this self view effected by the language you speak as each language works and explains the world differently?

[@JustinElkinsII]

Where were you when I was studying lit theory? Great analysis.

[@younicekeepgoing3939]

Same I have an exam soon in lit theory and I found this video

[@explodingstatue]

So what would he have thought about pre-mirror cultures who would have only seen themselves in water reflections or maybe as vague outlines in shiny stones? Were their lives utterly different as a result of not undergoing the mirror stage? I wonder if he ever wrote about these things. I personally have a theory that mirrors can be psychologically harmful for multiple reasons, so this interests me.

[@Jurassicparkatmospheres]

Finally, a sensible comment. Mirrors are not only a modern luxury only affordable to us peasants since the rise of capitalism and consumer culture, but they’re not even a human universal! Many extant cultures have no cause for a mirror. I don’t think their lives were much different. I completely disagree with the idea that a child can’t understand it’s identity as an individual without first seeing their reflection. Children grasp the concept around the age of 2 when they learn the whole universe doesn’t revolve around their personal feelings as understanding self and other is a necessary step towards learning to play fair with other kids. Mirrors, like all man-made artefacts, bare resemblance to the culture that made and popularised them: they’re sleek, shiny, harsh, eye-intense, voyeuristic, vein and unmistakably pagan. Yeah I agree, the mirror views those of us unfortunate enough to be born imperfect with a disdainful carping glare.

[@TheHKFeak]

Very great videos, keep it up!

[@BryanKirch]

If you find this interesting rudolf Steiner would be worth investing in. It’s a lot of work to get going with his work but once you are able to penetrate into it, the depth is significantly greater than any of his contemporaries

[@ChuckyMarks]

How have I only just found this channel?

[@aungphyoezin3758]

clearly clarified .. want to hear more about Lacan

[@spritualelitist665]

Isn't this what Hieddeger was trying get to get at. Authencity. Primordial.

[@Stephanie-ht9xs]

this was so helpful for ele thankyou so much

[@screensaves]

the gaze makes me feel steady

[@akshayakp7648]

Thank you for helping me for my exam. 👍

[@danielschembri5713]

Great video, and the music was a nice touch but the music is a bit loud vs. your voice and distracting.

[@arribas72]

The is well put, but it misses the point that the author of the video calls the "whole subject" never actually existed before the constitution of the Ego, that the only subject there is is the divided subject.

[@Shahinulrs]

Incisive indeed! Thank you for the video.

[@cigolsimons1768]

Love the music, what's the song name?

[@alhatoon1086]

Thank you for this insightful video. Very creative and well illustrated.

[@kipandrew1200]

This is such a good video

[@aaliacoovadia3940]

this is brilliant

[@michaelkulyk]

No the unconscious comes into being through the later process of Oedipalization-this doesn't happen during the earlier formation of the mirror self.

[@enricosanchez894]

Nice use of Betty Boop and Ozzie and Harriet footage.

[@Redrios]

there are no depths in Lacan's psychoanalytic theory, there is no internal vs. external worlds, everything is at the surface level, including the unconscious. Also, the ethics of psychoanalysis are not concerned (in fact, reject vehemently) with the good, or the goods; it lacks morality in that sense also conflicting often the clinicians work with the penal code of any given country. If anything, the interpretation of the Desire and therefore intervention also is usually the point of resolution of uneasiness and symptoms. It doesn't care if the conclusion of therapy is the patient deciding to kill himself now things revealed and made clear also confront him with an abyss or unsurmountable gap to a fulfilled life, or meaningful one; albeit being not an outcome i've ever heard of or read, because the probabilities of getting better in the health sense are usually what accompanies the succession of interpretations and short-circuits of the analysis, it is theoretically possible for a intelectual or intuitive motive to be overpowering the emotional/sentimental newly found wellbeing, even if it's only the erasure of negative symptoms, or relief of undue burden...

[@mcmorientes]

This is a great video, i am trying to figure out in which litterature i can find an updated version of Lacans idea of the mirror stage. Do anyone know in which book he describes it?

[@josephbeaudoin9945]

"The Lacanian Subject" by Bruce Fink is a strong introductory read on theory. It's acessible on JSTOR

[@natural91LC]

It's COGITO, ERGO SUM. other than that lovely video

[@mopcart5952]

can the mirror be an object, like isnt there a possibility that the baby sees a ball and somehow understands it as not dissimilar from himself and then that brings up "the self" and an ego and all that? couldnt the baby construct an identity (just as valid or invalid as the one that a mirror would create) through comparing what his senses tell him and the behaviour of other objects or people? would this be a more primitive level of consciousness or maybe a more advanced one, idk idk rambling now.

[@skfahadfardin2011]

What is mirror stage?

[@mrnibelheim]

Thank you! It is "psychoanalyst", not "psychoanalysist."

[@yusufayaz2356]

mrnibelheim hey! Ive got an exam next week. Can you explain whats the difference between primary identification and secondary identification and what exactly is the ideal I.

[@mrnibelheim]

Sorry, Yusuf. Iwish I could help but I am only a student myself. Best wishes.

[@ThuuuumbsUp]

thank you for this

[@BotGeorge]

0:19 I thought the whole thing about Descartes was that he was a dualist and that the mind and body were two very different things?

[@evanhadkins5532]

Yes. But he conceived of the two parts forming a whole - the thinking guaranteed the whole self, not just the thinking self.

[@edwardbackman744]

I thought the small other corresponded to The Subject, as opposed to the ego. It has an otherly character, my real dimension being an other with respect to my ego. Hence “Je est un autre.” I am an other except with the third person conjugation. But I’m probably wrong

[@magmabay576]

Good one....... but its "cogito" and not "cognito" .....

[@lokp7]

quality content

[@lashajakeli]

What would be the example of ''seeing oneself in the mirror'' in the old world? What does figuratively refers to there? It is interesting if prehistoric people had less developed sense of self and if their default mode network would light up less on average in contrast to modern humans under fMRIs.

[@Jose-op7vy]

I’m sure people saw themselves in reflections of water back then

[@Jurassicparkatmospheres]

I think they had an even greater sense of self than we do today, both as an individual and a cultural identity. I can’t remember the last time I carved a giant stone statue of myself into the side of a mountain.

[@harshtiwari6893]

This is so in line with what Hindu sages say about the Self. The first part of general meditative practice is learning to Be, to realise that the mind, the thoughts, the Big and Small Other are Unreal and need to be overcome to reach Truth-Consciousness-Bliss

[@Knaeben]

You are right. Buddhism as well. Anatman.

[@ritimasahikiya]

I have a problem with the bg music

[@teresaloureiro2525]

it is VERY DIDATCTIC . TY . quite ACCURATE .

[@teresaloureiro2525]

i was mjself lacans ' method ' , concepts patient . it has helped me a lot to UNDERSTAND MY ANOREXIA TENDENCIES .

[@teresaloureiro2525]

and the ' LOST at the MIRROR ' condition .

[@karib4490]

read the Interpersonal World of the Infant by Daniel Stern, makes Lacan's ideas here seem overly simplified.

[@raniabn2360]

bravo

[@susanastenico6501]

Si tapas el espejo mejor. Aunque. Estee quebrado ,juntas los trozitos , y seguís.Apariencia .Lo q. vale.Los genios y elegidos lo saben.

[@FedericoRevello]

BRILLIANT!!

[@liborsionko]

"the most important psychoanalyst since Freud" More so than Carl Jung??

[@AlienNation_0]

...yes. Freud rejected his pseudo methods. Lacan is infinitely more radical.

[@liborsionko]

@@AlienNation_0 There was a parting of the ways between Freud and Jung with various perspective explanations not simply as you state. I don't accept that the measure of radicalness is the same as importance. That is not to say I would agree with that premise.

[@AlienNation_0]

@@liborsionko ok. When radical is used it's not in a political sense. It's to do with closeness to reality. Which is radically different from our everyday obfuscations of reality. What bothers me about Jung is he buys the fantasy as reality. That and he clearly had little grasp on the wider currents of thought that gave psychoanalysis it's strength. Lacan was widely read in Hegel, Descartes and Spinoza. Not as a supplement to his theory, as a broader grounding and questioning. It tied into a materialist understanding of the mind. Something with profound significance that aforementioned philosopher's have paved the way for. And jung? Dismissed them because he couldn't read them. I find it ironic the founder of 'analytic psychology' is so steeped in magical thought and naive essentialism like a 'collective consciousness' (magical thinking), 'archtypes' (oversimplification). I find it amazing that he is taken seriously while Lacan is called the charlatan. This just reflects the literacy of the general public. Meanwhile Lacan has worked through the problems of trancendental philosophy to sketch out structural and ubiquitous relations of minds that requires no gods, demons, dragons or any such regressive nonsense to make them work. But I guess it's all relative.

[@anneliep87]

How about Klein, LaPlance or Winnicott?

[@lugus9261]

Yes Especially since Jung was an analytic psychologist

[@elizabethsteele4633]

I'm not yet convinced that he was essential . Verbose , without a doubt .

[@aytakingurbanzade3086]

You speak in a very good pace but turn down the music a bit please. Thank you for the video!

[@gda295]

esp at the end

[@parvintelli5178]

Thanks

[@rumination2399]

Hmm. Lacan more important than Jung? Descartes formulation stands for integrated identity? I like your presentation, articulation and intention, but these claims seem weak.

[@christophkuropkaGR]

the most important since freud? Not really: Fromm, Adler, Jung, Rank, Reich... ?

[@dkesuma]

I would like very much if this video has the texted-narrative (kinda subtitle). I am from Indonesia btw, :|

[@Yarah999]

This vedio is forced to be watched by my miss..😏😏😏

[@khadijadahmoune3997]

Same 😐

[@eudeamonism]

Wow. This helps. I am reading about the Imaginary, the Symbolic, and the Real. I think I need a little more help on that. Do you have a video on that?

[@JamesBarry-j7m]

Who?

[@RohitPant04]

"La Corn"

[@bmwskodaman5746]

lacan better than any thinker

[@222leeloo]

Would be better if the music were softer

[@alfonso201]

Broooo you forget to put "further reading"

[@alfonso201]

Link some books

[@shribalaji1718]

Watching this after kuthurai vaal.

[@LogicGated]

I wonder how many students than and now has helped prep for exams with these vids lol.

[@chunkyPa]

Great for introductory purposes; the music was purposeless and overdramatizes the video, however.

[@elizabethsteele4633]

3rd most important after Freud : # 1.1 = Jung

[@thehealingorbit173]

" To connect with the Real " ? Thats certainly not what Lacan implies. You do not want to get an encounter with the Real, there is nothing there. it will be a total breakdown, dissociation etc. It will be something a trauma victim experiences after the trauma - Broken pieces , wordlessness . Or in it's positive , something someone would experience dropping higher dose of Acid or DMT ( the so called ego death) . However it is not a state of mind we can function in the world. The ' whole unified subject '? What? Lacan is really important thinker , I suggest anyone watch , read , listen to other material on Lacan too. As this is some bastardised version .

[@Calabi]

I understood myself

[@Calabi]

Work in french

[@aproditi1216]

Its not Cognito but Cogito 😭

[@jozefbeurut8908]

CreaTor penseur philosopher et psychatrie- analyse Merci

[@evanhadkins5532]

Wanting to get on with people is inauthentic? Why can't a child differentiate in relation with the mother? I think Lacan is just tosh.

[@Dragonborn32]

Vaati?

[@andreysimeonov8356]

What is the scientific, empirical evidence that proves the correctness of Lacan's theoretical assumptions?

[@dinosaurrawl6800]

please put subtitles next time

[@HuntaDaKilla]

I think the music in the video seems dark and makes the subject seem even darker.

[@Vid1917]

The music was far too loud to hear much of the commentary.

[@andreysimeonov8356]

Did Lacan explain how exactly the mirror stage evolves in cases of congenitally blind children?

[@Critical_Trans_Parent]

Yikes! *IT nod ID*

[@ApacheNL1]

What about all the people that never looked in the mirror, such as primitive tribes and all of humanity that existed before the mirror was invented? They had a stalled development?

[@MegaLotusEater]

Looking in the mirror for the first time doesnt have to be literal. It could be looking at yourself metaphorically reflected in someone else

[@PaapiPasito]

They must have seen their reflection in water :)

[@evanhadkins5532]

Lacan would probably say that they developed somewhat differently.

[@psalc1]

das ich

[@teenanguyen217]

What if the child is blind or grows up never having seen a mirror. Would they ever develop pass the mirror stage?

[@alaen2]

This is ridiculus, this video is a mix-up. Please show more interest in what you're researching or pick subjects that you're more familiar with, no shame in that.

[@humanbeing9079]

Can you substantiated anything you say?

[@sfopera]

Nice video, but Lacan's idea is amateurish psychology based on little research. No serious psychologist or contemporary psychiatrist pays any attention to this.

[@yatov]

Lacant more important than Jung? Don’t be funny. Anyways, keep it up! You are good at making videos.

[@deidrec624]

joysdepraved My thoughts exactly.

[@toligaliano2336]

i am sorry... before the discovery of mirror humans didnt have a sense of self? why do you need to see yourself to have a sense of yourself? maybe lacan had an obessesion with his mirror

[@etienneouellet1123]

toli galiano there would be another moment when the child would understand their « self ». Looking at oneself in the water or simply understanding itself as a person

[@evanhadkins5532]

Another possibility is that Lacan thought people developed a little differently before mirrors.

[@bentaro9743]

It's not a literal mirror.