I’m really pleased to hear you’ve found my book and that you are enjoying it. It’s curious that among all the Lacanian terminology that it is always outwith which snags people.
It’s a Scottish word but one which is apparently spreading in usage. Basically it means something close to ‘beyond’.
I prefer it to beyond in that it doesn’t carry the implication of exceeding or surpassing, doesn’t suggest a value relation, at least not in that simple sense.
You could also see it as close to ‘outside of’ but this seems clumsier and lacks the juridical sense that outwith carries, as in being beyond the scope or reach of something.
Partly too I wanted to use a word which would not be over or comfortably familiar to the reader in the hope that it would snag the eye and force the reader to think the relationship in question further.