英：semblance; 法：semblant
显象是欺骗性的这种思想自始至终都贯穿在拉康的著作当中，这种思想紧密联系着显象与本质之间的经典哲学对立（见：S11,103)。想象界与象征界之间的区分恰好便隐含着显象与本质之间的这一对立。想象界即那些充当着引诱的可观察到的现象的领域，而象征界则是那些无法观察到而必须推导出来的潜在结构的领域。
此种对立充斥在所有的科学研究之中，因为科学探索的一个基本前提便在于科学家必须试图穿透假象 (false appearance)而进入隐匿的真实。同样，在精神分析中，如同在科学中一样，“唯有跳脱出假象的人才能够抵达真理”(S7,310)。然而，精神分析中的假象不同于自然科学中的假象。对于自然科学家而言，假象 (例如：当一根笔直的棍子一半没入水中时便会看似弯曲)缺乏故意欺骗的维度，这就是为什么拉康声称自然科学的公理是信仰一个真实可靠的、非欺骗性的上帝 (S3,64)。然而，在推测科学与精神分析之中，始终存在着显象的虚假性可能是由于欺骗的问题。
拉康使用了两个术语来指涉这些假象。“显象”(apparence)这一术语在哲学中被用来讨论本质与显象之间的区分。“假相”(semblant)这一术语虽然较少具有技术性，但是多年来在拉康的著作中日渐获得了重要性。早在1957年的时候它便出现了（例如：Ec, 435: S4,207),而且也有几次被用于1964年度的研讨班上 (S11,107), 但是直到1970年代早期，该术语才在拉康的理论词汇中渐渐占据了一个重要的位置。起初，拉康用该术语来指涉诸如女性性欲这样的问题，因为女性性欲的特征便在于一个乔装 (masquerade)的维度 (见：Riviere, 1929)。其后，拉康又用该术语来刻画象征秩序的一般特征，以及它与想象界和实在界的关系。因而，拉康便将其1970一1971年度的研讨班专门用于讨论“一种可能不属于假相的话语”，他在这期研讨班上指出真理 (TRUTH)并不完全是显象的对立面，而其实是与之相连的。真理与显象就如同莫比乌斯带的两面，事实上只是一面。在1972一1973年度的研讨班上，拉康又继而声称：对象小a是一种“存在的假相”(semblance ofbeing)(S20,84),爱针对的是一种假相 (S20,85), 而且“享乐”也只是在某种假相的基础上被唤起或制作出来的 (S20,85)。
(semblant) Running throughout Lacan's work is the idea that appearances are deceptive, an idea that is closely connected to the classical philosophical opposition betweenappearance and essence (see S11,103ff.). The very distinction between the imaginaryand the symbolic implies this opposition between appearance and essence. The imaginaryis the realm of observable phenomena which act as lures, while the symbolic is the realmof underlying structures which cannot be observed but which must be deduced.
This opposition informs all scientific enquiry, a basic presupposition of which is thatthe scientist must attempt to penetrate through false appearance into the hidden reality. Similarly, in psychoanalysis, as in science,'only he who escapes from false appearancescan achieve truth' (S7,310). However, false appearance in psychoanalysis is differentfrom false appearance in the natural sciences. For the natural scientist, the falseappearance (e.g.a straight stick that appears to be bent when half submerged in water) lacks the dimension of deliberate deception, which is why Lacan states that the axiom ofnatural science is the belief in an honest, non-deceitful God (S3,64). However, in theconjectural sciences, and in psychoanalysis, there is always the problem that the falsity ofthe appearance may be due to deception.
Lacan uses two terms to refer to false appearances. The term apparence is that used inphilosophical discussions of the distinction between essence and appearance. The termsemblant is less technical, but acquires a growing importance in Lacan's work over theyears. It appears as early as 1957 (e.g.Ec, 435; S4,207), and is used several times in theseminar of 1964 (S11,107), but it is not until the early 1970s that the term comes tooccupy an important place in Lacan's theoretical vocabulary. At first Lacan uses the termto refer to such issues as feminine sexuality, which is characterised by a dimension ofmasquerade (see Riviere, 1929). Later on, Lacan uses the term to characterise generalfeatures of the symbolic order and its relations to the imaginary and the real. Thus Lacandevotes his 1970-1 seminar to 'a discourse that would not be semblance', in which heargues that TRUTH is not simply the opposite of appearance, but is in fact continuouswith it; truth and appearance are like the two sides of a moebius strip, which are in factonly one side. In the seminar of 1972-3, Lacan goes on to state that objet petit a is asemblance of being' (S20,84), that love is addressed to a semblance (S20,85), and thatjouissance is only evoked or elaborated on the basis of a semblance (S20,85).