{"title":"Love is the <i>Delusion</i> of Saying: \"I Love (<i>to</i>) You\".","authors":"Meera Lee","doi":"10.1521/prev.2025.112.2.185","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This contribution investigates the delusional structure of love as theorized by Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan, with particular emphasis on Lacan's axiom, <i>\"There's no such thing as a sexual relationship.\"</i> Tracing love's trajectory from narcissistic identification in the mirror stage to its later formulation as semblance and structural void, it argues that love functions both as an act of creation and as a delusional response to the absence of sexual rapport. Through close readings of Lacan's seminars and Freud's writings on narcissism, the author introduces the notion of everyday delusion as a clinical and ethical framework for the practice and transmission of psychoanalysis today.</p>","PeriodicalId":39855,"journal":{"name":"Psychoanalytic Review","volume":"112 2","pages":"185-197"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Psychoanalytic Review","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1521/prev.2025.112.2.185","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"Medicine","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This contribution investigates the delusional structure of love as theorized by Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan, with particular emphasis on Lacan's axiom, "There's no such thing as a sexual relationship." Tracing love's trajectory from narcissistic identification in the mirror stage to its later formulation as semblance and structural void, it argues that love functions both as an act of creation and as a delusional response to the absence of sexual rapport. Through close readings of Lacan's seminars and Freud's writings on narcissism, the author introduces the notion of everyday delusion as a clinical and ethical framework for the practice and transmission of psychoanalysis today.
期刊介绍:
In six issues per year, The Psychoanalytic Review publishes peer-reviewed articles on a wide range of theoretical, clinical and cultural topics, including interdisciplinary studies, which help advance psychoanalytic theory and understanding of therapeutic process. Special Issues, organized by guest editors with recognized knowledge in a specific area within the field of psychoanalysis or intersecting with it, are an important feature of the Review. The journal also publishes reviews of books and films of interest to psychoanalysis.