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How we first come to recognise ourselves
In this episode of The William Gomes Podcast, William offers a sustained and reflective exploration of the Mirror Stage, one of the most influential concepts in psychoanalytic theory. Drawing on the work of Jacques Lacan, the discussion moves carefully through the early moment in infancy when a child encounters its own reflection and begins to form a sense of self.
William explains that this recognition is not a simple milestone in development. The reflected image appears unified and complete, while the child’s lived bodily experience is still fragmented and unstable. From this contrast, an identification takes place that gives rise to the ego. The self is organised around an image that is external, idealised and never fully aligned with inner experience.
The ego, misrecognition and adult life
The episode then traces how this early structure continues to shape adult subjectivity. William reflects on how confidence and insecurity emerge from the same roots, and how comparison and desire are bound to the way we imagine ourselves being seen. The Mirror Stage is presented not as a childhood phase we outgrow, but as a persistent tension between inner life and outer presentation.
Rather than simplifying Lacanian theory, the episode allows its complexity to remain intact. William speaks to the subtle unease that accompanies self-image, and to the ways in which misrecognition can both stabilise identity and generate suffering. The listener is invited to notice how often the self is measured against images, expectations and ideals that originate outside the self.
A foundational reflection on identity
This is a foundational episode for understanding Lacanian psychoanalysis, but it is also a humane meditation on what it means to come into being as a self. William’s tone remains calm and considered throughout, avoiding technical excess while preserving theoretical depth. The episode deepens understanding without closing down interpretation, leaving space for listeners to reflect on their own relationship to image, identity and recognition.
