ABSTRACT
I ask why Lacan declares himself to be a ‘creationist’ in contrast to Freud’s intellectual commitment to Darwinism, arguing that it is his response to the problem of ‘first causes’. Why, Lacan asks, does Freud turn to myths when confronted with the need to establish origins: of trauma, of sexuality, of the ego itself? Lacan’s answer involves a rejection of developmental stages altogether, restructuring the very idea of time in psychoanalytic theory by installing his own creation myth of the mirror stage. This must then guard against the promise of its mythical forebears: that mankind can return to an original wholeness. It must describe creation ex nihilo.
