I too was fascinated by Lacan's article. He has a very distinctive style and language use that I alternately found beautifully constructed and annoyingly technical and confusing. The article contains an intriguing mix of storybook imagery (such as the battle comparisons that Cory mentioned), biology terms (dehiscent, etc.), and somewhat baffling references to psychological theory and terms. I think that reading it made me feel a little bit lost in places because of said psychobabble.

Thus admittedly not a master of this brilliant philosopher, I am curious about one bit of the article in particular. I don't know if I really understand what Lacan means by the "fragmented self" of the mirror image. There is the idea that the infant sees herself and the mirror and identifies that image as herself and also the world as represented in the mirror as the inter-related objects that she has already identified. That realization seems to roughly correspond with a few of Freud's ideas, However, when Lacan is speaking of the whole versus the shattered self, I don't know if I fully understand the implications. Is this just an expression of the infant's mental incompleteness or a statement on the permanent implications of the development of the human psyche...?

Also, I think I must look into the writings/revisions of Anna Freud. I found it somewhat curious that the Freud that Lacan mainly referred to was not the great psychoanalyst but his daughter.

(And I too must add the "if I am confusing, tell me" disclaimer. I think perhaps I make more sense in my own head than I ever will elsewhere.)