Possession defends the self against the Other’s power to define it

Evidence

Nazi propaganda was ingenious enough to transform antisemitism into a principle of self-definition, and thus to eliminate it from the fluctuations of mere opinion. It used the persuasion of mass demagogy only as a preparatory step and never overestimated its lasting influence, whether in oratory or in print. This gave the masses of atomized, undefinable, unstable and futile individuals a means of self-definition and identification which not only restored some of the self-respect they had formerly derived from their function in society, but also created a kind of spurious stability which made them better candidates for an organization. — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 836 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

Every situation exists in the world; it is not of the same order as being. It is, in fact, essentially constituted out of Others; its objectivity is conditioned by the meaning that other subjectivities cast on being. — Christine Daigle, Jacob Golomb (eds.), Beauvoir and Sartre, 444 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Binding is both a psychical defense and a political mechanism against dissolution — Catherine Malabou, The New Wounded: From Neurosis to Brain…, 4314; Submission to external authority can constitute rather than constrain the self; Self-definition through exclusion restores self-respect to atomized individuals — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 836 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Submission to external authority can constitute rather than constrain the self #complicates (0.75)
• Self-definition through exclusion restores self-respect to atomized individuals #exemplifies (0.72) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 836
• The situation is constituted from Others’ meanings rather than from being itself #complicates (0.72) — Christine Daigle, Jacob Golomb (eds.), Beauvoir and Sartre, 444