Definitions HQ

The Big other (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠an enormous grounding power, and yet, is fragile, insubstantial, and properly virtual. It exists only insofar as subjects act as if it exists. It is the point of reference which provides the ultimate horizon of meaning to their lives, something for which these individuals are ready to give their lives, yet the only thing that really exist are these individuals and their activity, so this substance is actual only insofar as individuals believe in it and act accordingly.

The Big other's (n.) central ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠mystery is determining the point at which the the anonymous symbolic order gets subjectivized.

The Big other's (n.) predominant ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠image is the inexorable logic of an automatism which runs the show, so that when the subject speaks, he is, unbeknownst to himself, merely 'spoken'. He is not the master of his own house.

The Big other (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the anonymous mechanism of the symbolic order or another subject in the subject's radical alterity, a subject from whom I am forever separated by the 'wall of language'.

The Big other (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠virtual in character. This means that the symbolic order is not a kind of spiritual substance existing independently of individuals, but something that is sustained by their continuous activity. When individuals exchange symbols, they do not simply interact with each other, but somehow always also refer to the virtual big other.

The Big other (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠there before we are, exists outside us, and does not belong to us.