Objects of desire

​​FREUD

For Freud, objects can serve as anchors to identity by acting as substitutes for people (the ‘lost object’) or as repositories for memories and emotions, allowing an individual to maintain a sense of self.

Freud would likely interpret heirlooms and keepsakes as tools for the ego to maintain continuity. When person loses a loved one, the ego may internally the lost object (a person) and transfer that affection to a physical object that represents them ensuring that the identity associated wit that relationship is preserved. He also used the term ‘cathexis’ in relation to objects to describe a kind of process where the ego investing a kind o libidinal or psychic energy into objects, making them valuable to a person’s identity.

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JUNG

While Freud focused on objects as substitutes for lost desires, 

Carl Jung saw them as vessels for the soul and bridges to the "Collective Unconscious."

For Jung, a keepsake isn't just a memory aid; it is a living symbol that possesses its own psychological agency. Jung famously argued for the autonomy of objects. He didn't believe we just project meaning onto things; he felt objects have a "life of their own" that can affect us.

He believed that certain objects acted as a sort of ‘magnets’ for our own psychic energy. He called this ‘mana’. Jung viewed the material world as interconnected with the unconcious mind, where everyday objects can act as vessels for our inner life, carrying, reflecting, and even ‘housing’ parts of the soul 

WINNICOTT
For Donald Winnicott, objects were central to play, and they served a critical symbolic function in a child’s development. He famously claimed that the use of a transitional object (like a blanket or teddy bear) is the "first experience of a symbol". 

Unlike Jacques Lacan's theory, where the "object of desire" (objet petit a) is an unattainable fantasy caused by a fundamental lack, Winnicott's objects are tangible facilitators of development. For Winnicott, the object is not just a placeholder for a loss but a "transformational" medium that helps the self evolve through creative play and cultural experience.​