The Big Other & Its Inexistence
The purely virtual symbolic order that exists only insofar as subjects believe it exists; Žižek distinguishes 'the Big Other doesn't exist' (it still insists symbolically) from 'there is no Big Other' (it is thwarted and non-functional even as symbolic order).
In his words 40
“There is no big other in the sense of some authority which knows what's going on and will take care of us, but it's also a challenge for all of us.”9:01 The Role of Culture in Knowledge Society · absence of the big Other / political openness
“There is no big Other. There may be a virtual big Other to whom you cannot confess; there may be a real other, but it's never the virtual one.”1:43:03 The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology (2012) · Lacan's claim: the big Other does not exist
“God trusts us. All that can be done is we should do it.”54:44 Materialism and Theology · materialist theology / death of the Big Other
The stories that teach it
the jokes and anecdotes he reaches for when he works in this idea, ranked by how many of its talks they turn up in; each card is one story, with every retelling on its page
Niels Bohr's horseshoe
Niels Bohr had a horseshoe on his country-house door; when a scientist friend asked why a scientist would keep a superstitious charm, Bohr answered 'I was told it works even if you don't believe in it', Žižek's model for ideology today.
coffee without cream / coffee without milk
A customer orders coffee without cream; the waiter says they have no cream but can offer coffee without milk. Even though the result is identical, the absent supplement matters, Hegelian negativity in a joke.
Starbucks ethical consumerism
Buying a Starbucks cappuccino is sold as supporting Guatemalan organic farmers and saving the planet; the owner appeared like Anthony Giddens calling Starbucks an ersatz place of collective experience. The sin of consumerism and its redemption are packaged together in the same…
Book of Job as first critique of ideology
Job's theological friends tell him his suffering has a deeper meaning; Jehovah appears and says Job was right, the suffering has no meaning. Chesterton reads God's 'where were you when I created monsters' speech not as arrogance but as: look, the whole world is a mess, you're …
Rumsfeld's known/unknown matrix and the fourth term
Rumsfeld articulated three epistemological categories before the Iraq war (known knowns, known unknowns, unknown unknowns); Žižek argues he missed the crucial fourth, 'unknown knowns' (unconscious fantasies), which is what the U.S. lacked awareness of, making the Iraqi Ministe…
Santa Claus Belief
Parents deny believing in Santa while buying presents; children deny believing while pretending so as not to disappoint parents. No one believes in the first person yet the ritual functions perfectly.
Where it comes up 246
365 moments located in the transcripts, click a timestamp to play from there