Absence
"Absence"
Contents
Symbolic
The symbolic order is characterized by a binary opposition between absence and presence.[1]
In the symbolic order "nothing exists except upon an assumed foundation of absence."[2]
Real
This is a basic difference between the symbolic and the real.
"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."[3]
Word
Lacan notes that the symbol -- or word -- is "a presence made of absence" because:
- the symbol is used in the absence of the thing and
- signifiers only exist insofar as they are opposed to other signifiers.[4]
Word
Lacan notes that the symbol -- or word -- is "a presence made of absence" because:
- the symbol is used in the absence of the thing and
- signifiers only exist insofar as they are opposed to other signifiers.[5]
See Also
References
- ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Le Séminaire. Livre IV. La relation d'objet, 19566-57. Ed. Jacques-Alain Miller. Paris: Seuil, 1991. p.67-8
- ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Écrits. Paris: Seuil, 1966. p.392
- ↑ Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book II. The Ego in Freud's Theory and in the Technique of Psychoanalysis, 1954-55. Trans. Sylvana Tomaselli. New York: Nortion; Cambridge: Cambridge Unviersity Press, 1988. p.313
- ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Écrits: A Selection. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Tavistock Publications, 1977. p.65
- ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Écrits: A Selection. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Tavistock Publications, 1977. p.65
