Mirror Stage

In Lacanian thought, the mirror stage is said to be that phase of development where the child identifies himself, for the first time ever, as an autonomous individual. At least in Lacan’s world, the self is not merely a matter of words, pictures, or thoughts.  Rather, it originates in primordial recognition, a separation exemplified in the mirror. After all, in order to recognize myself, I have to be separate from myself. And so identity ultimately arises from without—the deeply felt sensation of inside and outside, self and other, “I” and my reflection.