Jacob Lacan

Jacques-Marie-Émile Lacan (French: Jacques-Marie-Émile Lacan, French pronunciation: [ʒak maʁi emil lakɑə], April 13, 1901 – September 9, 1981) was a French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist. Known as "the most controversial psychoanalyst since Freud" Lacan held annual seminars in Paris from 1953 to 1981 and published papers, which were later included in the book Collected Works. Records of seminars held from 1954 to 1976 have also been published. His work has had a significant impact on continental philosophy and cultural theory in areas such as poststructuralism, critical theory, feminist theory, and film theory, as well as on psychoanalytic practice itself. Lacan adopted and discussed all of Freud's concepts, emphasizing the philosophical dimension of Freud's thought and applying concepts derived from linguistic and anthropological structuralism to the development of his own work, further augmented by the use of formulas from predicate logic and topology. Taking this new direction and introducing controversial innovations into clinical practice led to Lacan and his followers being expelled from the International Psychoanalytic Association. But Lacan went on to establish new psychoanalytic institutions to promote and develop his work, which he declared to be a "return to Freud" in opposition to the prevailing tendency for psychology and institutional psychoanalysis to conspire to adapt to social norms.