Lacan -

: This is the "sublime" object within an ordinary object that makes it desirable. It represents a lost part of ourselves and is the engine that drives perpetual desire. The Barred Subject (

One of Lacan's most famous maxims is that "the unconscious is structured like a language." Utilizing the structural linguistics of Ferdinand de Saussure, Lacan argued that the human mind operates through a network of signs. Saussure divided the sign into two parts: the signifier (the sound or written word) and the signified (the mental concept). While Saussure believed these two components were inherently linked, Lacan asserted that they are completely decoupled. : This is the "sublime" object within an

The ego is formed on the basis of this external, alien image. Therefore, for Lacan, the ego is fundamentally a structure of misrecognition (méconnaissance), an "alienating identification with the other". 4. Desire and the "Objet Petit A" Saussure divided the sign into two parts: the