Introduction about the concept of reality according to J. Lacan

During more than 20 years, J. Lacan did not cease to explain and to determine with precision the concept of reality. The "psychical reality", described by S. Freud, is according to Lacan the most important concerning this question of reality. Lacan demonstrates that subjective reality is structurated by the language, by the first symbolic and significant relations. The construction of reality depends on "lost object", therefore Lacan identified finally reality and phantasm. This conception can be precious and useful for clinicians particularly in the orientation of the treatment concerning psychotic patients. Besides, this psychoanalytic approach concerning reality is also a fundamental ethic question. (C) 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.