Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 15, 2026

Involving Individuals with Developmental Language Disorder and Their Parents/Carers in Research Priority Setting
Published on: June 6, 2020
Language and Vulnerability-A Lacanian Analysis of Respect
Laurie Laufer1, Beatriz Santos1
1Department of Psychoanalytic Studies, Center for Research in Psychoanalysis, Medicine and Society, Paris Diderot University, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France.
Abstract:
Lacan's original approach to language expands the reaches of psychoanalysis. Not limited to a set of technical instructions that guide "treatments of the soul," lacanian psychoanalysis can be seen as a theoretical toolbox whose utility is multidisciplinary. This paper contends that, by establishing a connection between (i) the idea that subjects are produced by language and bear the mark of the unconscious; and (ii) an approach to the production of symptoms that acknowledges the importance of their sense, lacanian theories enlighten discussions on the theme of vulnerability. We claim that Lacan's description of psychoanalysis as an apparatus that respects the person and (foremost) their symptoms generates evidence of the existence of a kind of recognition that takes into account the vulnerability of a given subject without assigning them to a fixed position of victim. This perspective enriches contemporary debates on the relationship between identity and vulnerability.
Related Concept Videos
Area Between Curves: Integrating With Respect to y
Area Between Curves: Integrating With Respect to x
Language
Corballis and Suddendorf (2007) and Tomasello and Rakoczy (2003) highlight the role of language in...
Components of Language
Language Development
The critical period for language acquisition suggests that the ability to acquire language is at its peak early in life. As people age, this proficiency decreases. Language development begins very...
Language and Cognition

