Research on Lacan's Theory of Desire

Abstract

Jacques Lacan was, inarguably one of the most important psychoanalysts to live during the 20Th Century and his ideas surely have reverberated throughout Psychology as well as Philosophy and Literature. Lacan thought of desire as being at the center of his academic work and even went on to say that "Desire is man's essence". This theory becomes especially important in postmodern society, where longing is a key element of consumer culture. Hailing from France, Jacques Lacan was born in 1901. He entered medical school and then psychiatry, after which he pursued a career as psychoanalyst. Lacan was largely influenced by Freud, but he also significantly re-read the theory of him through linguistic and structural interpretations. Lacan, who said that the human unconscious is structured like a language and desire leaves itself marks not only in our minds but also reproductions of culture and clinking symbols. According to Lacan, desire is the primary originating impulse from which all subsequent subjects are constructed; it's the motivational force of what runs a subject. Lacan also argues that like the Libido in Freud, desire is what motivates human behaviour and development of psyche.