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[[Freud]] defined the [[object]] as that in which and through which the [[drive]] attains its aim.
In the years following [[Freud]]'s [[death]], the twin concepts of the "[[object]]" and the "object relation" attained a growing imporance in [[psychoanalytic theory]], and eventually a whole [[school]] of [[psychoanalytic theory]] came to be known as "[[object-relations theory]].
(The main proponents of [[object-relations theory were Ronald Faibairn, D.W. Winnicott and Michael Balint, all of whom were members of the Middle Group of the British Psycho-Analytical Society.)
These analysts differed on many points, and hence [[object-relations theory]] covers a wide range of theoretical points of view.
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However, despite its lack of precise definition, [[object-relations theory]] can be contrasted with [[ego-psychology]] on account of its focus on [[object]] rather than on the [[drive]]s in themselves.
This focus on [[object]]s means that [[object-relations theory]] pays more attention to the [[intersubjective]] constitution of the [[psyche]], in contrast to the more atomistic approach of [[ego-psychology]].
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Although [[Lacan]]ian [[psychoanalysis]] has been compared with [[object-relations theory]] in that both [[schools]] of thought place more emphasis on [[intersubjectivity]], [[Lacan]] himself criticizes [[object-relations theory]] repeatedly.
His criticisms focus most on the way in which [[object-relations theory]] envisions the possibility of a complete and perfectly satisfying relation between the [[subject]] and the [[object]].
[[Lacan]] is opposed to such a view, arguing that for [[human beings ]] [[being]]s there is no such thing as a "pre-established harmony" betrween "a need and an object that satisfies it."<ref>{{S1}} p.209</ref>
The root of the error is, argues [[Lacan]], that in [[object-relations theory]], "the object is first and foremost an object of satisfaction."<ref>{{S1}} p.209</ref>
In other words, by locating the [[object]] in the [[register ]] of [[satisfaction]] and [[need]], [[object-relations theory]] confuses the [[object of [[psychoanalysis]] with the [[object]] of [[biology]] and neglects the [[symbolic]] dimension of [[desire]].
One dire consequence that follows from this is that the specific difficulties which arise from the [[symbolic]] constitution of [[desire]] are neglected, with the result that 'mature object relations' and ideals of '[[genital love]]' are proposed as the goal of [[treatment]].
Thus [[object-relations theory]] becomes the site of a "delirious moralism."<ref>{{Ec}} p.716</ref>
--- A closely related aspect of [[object-relations theory]] which [[Lacan]] also criticizes is its hift shift of emphasis from the [[Oedipal]] triangle onto the [[mother]]-[[child]] relation, with the latter conceived of as a perfectly symmetrical, reciprocal relation.
One of [[Lacan]]'s fundamental concern is to restore the centrality of the [[Oedipal]] triangle to [[psychoanalysis]] by re-emphasizing the importance of the [[father]] in contrast to the [[object-relations]] emphasis on the [[mother]].
This concern can be seen in [[Lacan]]'s criticism of the object relation as a symmetrical [[dual relation]], and his view that the object relation is an [[intersubjective]] relation which involves not two but three terms.
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[[Lacan]]'s cricism of British [[object-relations theory]] is one of the main themes of the first year of his public [[seminar]] (1953-4).
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