Phrase: "I am led, therefore, to regard the function of the mirror-stage..."

"I am led, therefore, to regard the function of the mirror-stage as a particular case of the function of the imago, which is to establish a relation between the organism and its reality-or, as they say, between the Innenwelt and the Umwelt" (4).

Lacan states that the mirror-stage allows one to develop a connection to the world. Or, in other words, it is during the mirror-stage that humans not only come to realize their own existence, but also the existence of an outside world. This realization occurs upon seeing the image of ones' self, not the image of another being. For Lacan, the concept of "I" is formed later in relation to other beings and the "symbolic matrix," which is language.