“Know Thyself!” a Lacanian Model for Understanding Subjective Complexity

Abstract

The philosophical presupposition underlying this article is that theoretical “models” for self-understanding will only succeed if subjectivity is approached as a complex phenomenon defined in terms of necessary internal conflict. Lacan's articulation of three subjective registers (Real, Imaginary, and Symbolic) as a “Borromean knot” offers the basis for developing a model for self-understanding that does justice to this kind of complexity in human subjectivity. One may add to this that specific concerns and passions characterize each register. The ontological/existential concern of the Real engenders “ontophilia,” the self-concern of the Imaginary “autophilia”, and the concern for humanity in the Symbolic “anthrophilia”. This articulation of registers and passions is further complexified by internal divisions between “paranoiac”, “hysterical”, and “paradoxical” styles of the passions. I aim to outline an adequately complex Lacanian model for self-understanding as an articulation of registers, passions, and styles. In an effort to make this accessible beyond the confines of Lacanian scholarship, it has been applied to well-known historical and contemporary figures.