My critics point out that I introduce unnecessary conceptual distinctions while failing
to draw ones that matter. Both Hook and Sullivan, for example, point out that my
article does not differentiate between affect and emotion. Hook also notes that I do not
differentiate between the Lacanian registers of the symbolic, the imaginary and the real
when discussing identification. He also notes that a number of distinctions I draw are
spurious – namely between love and hate and between the Innenwelt and the Umwelt.
The substance of the above critique rests almost exclusively on a body of Lacanian and
post-Lacanian thought. With Hook, I share a deep respect for the insights offered by
Lacanian psychoanalysis. I would, however, like to make a few observations.