What is a Matheme?
Jacques Lacan, a French psychoanalyst, coined the term matheme to describe a way of writing down psychoanalytic concepts in a clear, and structured form.
- The word combines “math” (from mathematics) and “theme” (an idea).
- Lacan wanted psychoanalysis to have the same kind of rigour and precision as mathematics, where formulas can be passed on without distortion.
In other words, a matheme is a formula that condenses complex psychoanalytic ideas into a symbolic shorthand.
Why Did Lacan Create Mathemes?
Psychoanalysis deals with very abstract concepts like desire, fantasy, the unconscious, and subjectivity.
Lacan worried that if these ideas were only explained in words, they could become vague, poetic, or misinterpreted over time.
- Goal of Mathemes: To transmit psychoanalysis with minimal loss of meaning, almost like equations in math or physics.
- Benefit: Anyone familiar with the “code” could read and understand Lacan’s theory, regardless of cultural or linguistic differences.
Examples of Lacanian Mathemes
1. Fantasy ($◊a)
This matheme means “the subject ($) in relation to the object a (objet petit a).”
It shows that fantasy is not just imagination, but a structured relation between ourselves and the object that causes desire.
2. The Four Discourses
Lacan even mapped out how society talks and relates.
- Master’s Discourse: authority rules, knowledge obeys
- University Discourse: knowledge rules, students obey
- Hysteric’s Discourse: the subject rebels, questions authority
- Analyst’s Discourse: the analyst listens, letting desire speak
Each one is a formula with the same four symbols – S1, S2, $, and a – just rearranged. It’s like shuffling cards: same deck, different outcome.
3. Language and the Unconscious
S/s
Translation: The signifier (words) never perfectly match the signified (meaning).
- Example: The word “love” means one thing to you, another to me, and something else entirely to Shakespeare. The gap is the unconscious.
4. How to Read Mathemes in Simple Terms
- $ = the subject (always divided, never whole)
- a = objet petit a (the little object that sparks desire)
- S1 = master signifier (a central word or authority)
- S2 = knowledge (the chain of signifiers, the system)
By combining these, Lacan built a shorthand for describing how people relate to language, desire, and others.
Final Words
Mathemes are Lacan’s secret code for human desire. At first, they look strange – like alien equations – but they unlock the most hidden truths about how we speak, love, and dream.
Once you learn to read them, you realise Lacan wasn’t just being cryptic. He was giving us the closest thing to a mathematics of the soul.