‌‌‌‌　　英：delusion;法：delire

‌‌‌‌　　在精神病学上，妄想通常被定义为稳固保持的、难以纠正的错误信念，此种信念同可资利用的信息与主体的社会群体中的信念不相一致 (见：美国精神病学协会，1987:395; Hughes, 1981:206).妄想是偏执狂 (PARANOIA)的核心临床特征，而且其范围可涵盖从单一的观念到复杂的信念网络 (即所谓的“妄想体系”delusional systems]).

‌‌‌‌　　用拉康的话说，偏执狂患者缺乏父亲的名义（NAME-OF THE-FATHER), 而妄想则是偏执狂患者旨在填补由于这一原始能指的缺位而在其象征世界中留下的空洞的企图。因而，妄想便不是偏执狂的“疾病”本身；恰恰相反，它是偏执狂患者尝试疗愈自身，借助于某种替代形成 (substitute formation)而把自己从象征世界的崩溃中解救出来的企图。正如弗洛伊德在他有关施瑞伯的作品中所评论的那样：“我们将其当作病理性产物的东西，即妄想形成 (delusional formation), 其实是旨在痊愈的企图与重构。”(Freud, 1911 c:SEXⅡ，71)

‌‌‌‌　　拉康坚持妄想的意义性，并且强调密切关注精神病患者自己对其妄想说明的重要性。妄想是一种话语的形式，因此它必须被理解为“对某一能指进行组织的意指领域”(S 3,121)。出于此种原因，所有的妄想现象皆是“参照于言语的功能和结构而得到澄清的”(S 3,310)

‌‌‌‌　　偏执狂的妄想性建构可以采取诸多的形式。一种常见的形式，即“迫害妄想”(delusion of persecution),便是围绕着大他者的大他者 (the Other of the Other)而运转的，正是这个隐匿的主体在幕后操纵着大他者（即象征秩序），正是他控制着我们的思想，阴谋暗算着我们，注视着我们，等等。

‌‌‌‌　　(delire) Delusions are usually defined in psychiatry as firmly held, incorrigible falsebeliefs, inconsistent with the information available and with the beliefs of the subject'ssocial group (see American Psychiatric Association, 1987:395; Hughes, 1981:206). Delusions are the central clinical feature of PARANOIA, and can range from single ideasto complex networks of beliefs (called delusional systems).

‌‌‌‌　　In Lacanian terms, the paranoiac lacks the NAME-OF-THE-FATHER, and thedelusion is the paranoiac's attempt to fill the hole left in his symbolic universe by theabsence of this primordial signifier. Thus the delusion is not the 'illness'of paranoiaitself; it is, on the contrary, the paranoiac's attempt to heal himself, to pull himself out ofthe breakdown of the symbolic universe by means of a substitute formation. As Freudcommented in his work on Schreber,'What we take to be the pathological production, thedelusional formation, is in reality the attempt at recovery, the reconstruction' (Freud, 1911 c: SEXL, 71).

‌‌‌‌　　Lacan insists on the significance of the delusion and stresses the importance ofattending closely to the psychotic patient's own account of his delusion. The delusion is aform of discourse, and must therefore be understood as 'a field of signification that hasorganised a certain signifier' (S 3,121). For this reason all delusional phenomena are'clarified in reference to the functions and structure of speech' (S 3,310).

‌‌‌‌　　The paranoid delusional construction may take many forms. One common form, the'delusion of persecution', revolves around the Other of the Other, a hidden subject whopulls the strings of the big Other (the symbolic order), and who controls our thoughts, conspires against us, watches us, etc.