Philosophy Stack Exchange
Philosophy Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [derrida]

Jacques Derrida (1930 – 2004) was an Algerian-born French philosopher associated with a semiotic analysis called deconstruction.

The following are some sources for information about Derrida.

43 questions
11
votes
4 answers

What are some alternative readings of Aristotle's remark "O my friends, there is no friend"?

Jacques Derrida's 1988-89 seminar on "The Politics of Friendship" centers itself around a quotation attributed to Aristotle, found in Diogenes Laertius (V, 1, 21) and later quoted by Montaigne ("On Friendship", I, 28) "O my friends, there is no…
Michael Dorfman
  • 23,267
  • 1
  • 44
  • 69
10
votes
3 answers

What does "il n'y a pas de hors-texte" mean in philosophy and literary criticism?

Does the phrase "il n'y a pas de hors-texte" amount to the same thing in literary criticism and philosophy? There's a lot of bad google hits on this phrase, and I haven't read On Grammatology [p158] cover-to-cover. It seems to me that though,…
user6917
8
votes
3 answers

What philosopher said that knowledge is about discerning differences?

I have heard that knowledge is discerning differences or to that effect. For example, if all things are the same such that there is no differentiating qualities, we can't really speak of anything interesting (think about pitch-dark environment). I…
moonset
  • 81
  • 2
7
votes
3 answers

What is the difference between Derrida's Deconstruction and Heidegger's Destruktion?

Derrida's deconstruction, as far as I understand it, is to critically examine values as embodied in binary situations like signifier and signified where there is an implicit hierarchy of value - one term is dominant, the other is submissive. These…
Mozibur Ullah
  • 1
  • 14
  • 88
  • 234
7
votes
1 answer

How does logocentrism entail metaphysics of presence?

Various definitions and explanations of logocentrism, in general and in context of Derrida in particular, seem to be either incomprehensible or logically invalid. The narrowest definition states that logocentrism is a belief that there are thoughts…
Mirzhan Irkegulov
  • 946
  • 10
  • 29
6
votes
2 answers

Why did Jacques Derrida call his theory "deconstruction"?

Deconstruction literally should mean "destroying something" or "tearing something apart" or something like that—something that is opposite to "construction". Why he has chosen this term for his text analysis approach? Seems to me that his approach…
Saeed Neamati
  • 1,769
  • 15
  • 18
5
votes
3 answers

How does Derrida explain the possibility of meaningful communication and linguistic coordination?

Consider this passage on Derrida and meaning (from here): The search for an 'essential reality' or 'origin' or 'truth' is futile, because "...language bears within itself the necessity of its own critique, deconstructive criticism aims to show that…
Dennis
  • 4,552
  • 1
  • 21
  • 38
5
votes
1 answer

How does deconstruction differ from post-structuralism?

Derrida states that his use of the word deconstruction first took place in a context in which "structuralism was dominant" and its use is related to this context. Derrida states that deconstruction is an "antistructuralist gesture" because…
Mozibur Ullah
  • 1
  • 14
  • 88
  • 234
5
votes
3 answers

Were Derrida, Lacan, Freud involved in politics?

Were philosophers like Derrida, Lacan, Freud involved in any kind of political party, political movement or had any political ideas? or did they just had theories in fields like psychoanalysis. Edit: Did any of them wanted to change society and make…
Sameera Kumarasingha
  • 159
  • 3
4
votes
1 answer

How do I begin to understand Event & Possibility?

According to the SEP: he tries to develop a metaphysics adequate to contemporary mathematics and science—a metaphysics in which the concept of multiplicity replaces that of substance, event replaces essence and virtuality replaces…
Mozibur Ullah
  • 1
  • 14
  • 88
  • 234
4
votes
2 answers

Regarding Derrida's "Aporias" and "waiting for the other"

I'm a newcomer to philosophy, I've been recently introduced by the vector of an English course. In studying various works, I'm having particular difficulty with the following statement from Derrida's Aporias: Dying—Awaiting (One Another at) the…
AMarch
  • 43
  • 4
4
votes
1 answer

Where does Derrida say that deconstruction and the existence of or belief in God are incompatible?

I am searching for a text I've since lost that I believe is a transcription of a conversation between someone and Derrida. The context may have been Heidegger's particular conception of philosophy and its incompatibility with the existence of /…
Kyle
  • 363
  • 1
  • 9
4
votes
3 answers

What is the definition of Derrida's term "dissemination"?

Derrida is hard to sum up but can someone define his notion of "dissemination" or does anyone know a good passage where he defines it? I know that Derrida writes on dissemination and has an original theory of it but I haven't encountered it in the…
Ian Delairre
  • 391
  • 3
  • 7
3
votes
2 answers

Did Freud really suggest translating the manifest into the latent to interpret it?

Is the bold section of the following text correct about Freud's hypothesis? Does it mean to use the manifest dream thoughts in order to find the meaning of the latent ones? According to Derrida, Freud paid excessive attention to content and was…
user127733
  • 247
  • 1
  • 4
2
votes
4 answers

What do poststructuralists mean by "power legitimates itself"?

"The post-structuralists assert that in any culture power legitimates itself through its connection to the validating mechanism for truth claims." How is it possible to use truth as an instrument of power? Please make it simple to understand with an…
MIKEY SINGH
  • 57
  • 4
1
2 3