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The [[symbolic order]] is characterized by a binary opposition between [[absence]] and [[absence|presence]].<ref>{{S4}} p.67-8</ref>

<blockquote>"In the symbolic order nothing exists except upon an assumed foundation of absence. Nothing exists except insofar as it does not exist."<ref>{{Ec}} p.392</ref></blockquote>

This is a basic difference between the [[symbolic]] and the [[real]].

<blockquote>"There is no absence in the real. There is only absence if you suggest that there may be a presence there where there isn't one."<ref>{{S2}} p.313</ref></blockquote>

As [[Roman Jakobson]] showed with his analysis of [[phoneme]]s, all [[linguistic]] phenomena may be entirely characterized in terms of the [[absence|presence]] or [[absence]] of certain distinctive features.

# [[signifiers]] only exist insofar as they are opposed to other [[signifiers]].<ref>{{E}} p.65</ref>

Because of the mutual implication of [[absence]] and [[absence|presence]] in the [[symbolic order]], [[absence]] can be said to have an equally positive [[existence]] in the [[symbolic]] as [[absence|presence]].

This is what allows [[Lacan]] to say that "the nothing" (''le rien'') is in itself an [[object]] (a [[partial object]]).<ref>{{S4}} p.184-5</ref>

It is around the [[absence|presence]] and [[absence]] of the [[phallus]] that [[sexual difference]] is [[symbolically]] apprehended by the [[development|child]].

==See Also==

* [[Existence]]

* [[Fort-Da]]

* [[Object]]

* [[Symbolic]]

* [[Real]]