From Saussure to Lacan: The Primacy of the Signifier

Abstract

Ferdinand de Saussure, often regarded as the father of modern linguistics, proposed that language is a system of signs. His introduction of the symbolic system and linguistic signs later triggered a wave of structuralism in academia and had a profound impact on the early works of Jacques Lacan. Saussure believed in the primacy of the signified, that is, the concept having precedence over the signifier, a notion contested by psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan. This paper offers an in-depth interpretation of Lacans example, highlighting the primacy of the signifier within the sign system and refuting Saussures view of the primacy of the signified. Lacan revised and corrected Saussures concepts of the signifier and signified, noting that the concept is merely the effect of differentially related symbols. Building on this, the paper further details the perspectives of structuralism and attempts to reveal the origin and synchronic characteristics of the symbolic system from a philosophical viewpoint. Additionally, the paper discusses Lacans concept of the master signifier, underscoring its significance in the critique of ideology.