Deconstructive Ethics and Zen Buddhist

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Deconstructive Ethics and Zen Buddhist AN IMPOSSIBLE DEMAND: DECONSTRUCTIVE ETHICS AND ZEN BUDDHIST DISCOURSE By David Stephen Howe Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of American University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts In Philosophy Chair: CL#y Cl Amy Oliver 1 . H x b l o Jin Y. Park Lucinda Peach Dean of the College (L-^7 Date 2005 American University Washington, D.C. 20016 AMERICAN UNIVERSITY LIBRARY ^ Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 1428235 Copyright 2005 by Howe, David Stephen All rights reserved. INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. ® UMI UMI Microform 1428235 Copyright 2005 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. © COPYRIGHT By David Stephen Howe 2005 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. AN IMPOSSIBLE DEMAND: DECONSTRUCTIVE ETHICS AND ZEN BUDDHIST DISCOURSE BY David Stephen Howe ABSTRACT The aim of this thesis is to situate Derridian deconstruction along side Zen Buddhism in order to accomplish two things. The first is to illuminate a sense of the ethical in Derridian discourse. The sense of the ethical found in Derrida marks a radical departure from the conventional conception of normative ethics found in Kant and others. Understood in light of Levinas’ work on ethics, Derrida’s deconstructive ethics offers a new way of engaging in relations with the other. Second, by situating the “methodology” of Derridian deconstruction, now understood as a deconstructive ethics, with Zen encounter dialogues, Derrida’s notion of “democracy to come” is relocated in a more global context, freeing his “promise of democracy” from its Eurocentric place in Derrida’s work. ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT................................................................................................................................................................................ii Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................................. 1 2. DERRIDIAN DIFFERANCE AND BUDDHIST DEPENDENT CO-ARISING................................................. 5 Differance.................................................................................................................................................................. 6 Buddhist No-Self Theory.......................................................................................................................................13 Deconstruction, Buddhism, and Non-Substantial Philosophy......................................................................... 17 3. DECONSTRUCTION AS AN ETHICAL OPERATION, AND THE ZEN ENCOUNTER DIALOGUES...................................................................................................................................... 23 What “Is” Deconstruction..................................................................................................................................... 24 Ethical Reading....................................................................................................................................................... 28 Zen Encounter Dialogues: Dogen's Response to the Koan ....................................................................Text 39 Dogen's Critique......................................................................................................................................................42 Deconstruction And The Ethical In Dogen........................................................................................................ 46 4. THE INSTITUTION, ITS VIOLENCE, AND ZEN MILITARISM..................................................................... 51 Hospitality................................................................................................................................................................ 51 The Institution......................................................................................................................................................... 53 Zen And Militarism.................................................................................................................................................56 5. CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................................................... 65 BIBLIOGRAPHY....................................................................................................................................................................70 iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The aim of this thesis is to situate Derridian deconstruction along side Zen Buddhism in order to accomplish two things. The first is to illuminate a sense of the ethical in Derridian discourse. The sense of the ethical found in Derrida marks a radical departure from the conventional conception of normative ethics found in Kant and others. Understood in light of Levinas’ work on ethics, Derrida’s deconstructive ethics offers a new way of engaging in relations with the other. Second, by situating the “methodology” of Derridian deconstruction, now understood as a deconstructive ethics, with Zen encounter dialogues, Derrida’s notion of “democracy to come” is relocated in a more global context, freeing his “promise of democracy” from its Eurocentric place in Derrida’s work. Derrida’s deconstructive readings of friendship, hospitality, and cosmopolitanism contribute to his notion of “democracy to come”. However, these readings deal exclusively with European texts. By drawing out parallels, particularly between differance and dependant co-arising, and situating deconstruction in light of Zen Buddhism’s relationship with time, Derrida’s promise is freed from the very Eurocentric origins it aims to deconstruct. Doing so allows for a more global and inclusive notion of “democracy to come.” By positioning deconstructive ethics this way, the approach to ethical questions becomes better suited for cross cultural analysis, escaping Derrida’s criticism of traditional Western approaches to ethics as too prescriptive and generalizing. 1 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2 This paper will proceed in three sections. First it will draw together and examine Derridian differance and the idea of dependent co-arising in Buddhism. Doing so begins to illuminate the way each deals with the “other”. Examiningdifferance in Derrida’s work and thinking about how the play of deferral and differentiation deconstruct the notion of a stable self places the individual in a new kind of relationship with the other. The deconstruction of the idea of a stable self, grounded in presence privileged by metaphysics, allows for a new way of thinking of the other. Derrida’s work on differance coupled, or read, alongside Buddhist ideas of emptiness ( sunyata), no-self, and dependent co-arising (pratitya-samutpada) further clears the path for this new kind of thinking of the other, providing a more global context for this thinking which traverses the boundary between Eastern and Western philosophical discourse. Recognizing our interdependency sets the stage for a perspective on the ethical that radically departs from the classical conception of ethics founded on generalizing principles that reduce individuals to a single blanket concept. Second, I will demonstrate why the relationship with the other should be characterized as an ethical relationship. In both Derridian deconstruction and Zen encounter dialogues, an ethical movement is in play. This section examines how this relationship of interdependency, sketched out in the first section, creates an opening where a sense of the ethical in Derrida’s work can be illuminated alongside that of the Buddhist tradition, this time particularly looking at Zen Buddhist encounter dialogues, or koan-texts. Doing so, we will not arrive at an ethics in the concrete sense, an ethical system with principles and such. Instead this examination will illuminate a sense of the Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 3 ethical in more of a Levinasian sense, as an opening, an ethical space, where ethics is practiced, though not completed. Derrida’s deconstructive reading of friendship opens up the concept of friendship from its rigid boundary
Recommended publications
  • The Unlimited Responsibility of Spilling Ink Marko Zlomislic
    ISSN 1393-614X Minerva - An Internet Journal of Philosophy 11 (2007): 128-152 ____________________________________________________ The Unlimited Responsibility of Spilling Ink Marko Zlomislic Abstract In order to show that both Derrida’s epistemology and his ethics can be understood in terms of his logic of writing and giving, I consider his conversation with Searle in Limited Inc. I bring out how a deconstruction that is implied by the dissemination of writing and giving makes a difference that accounts for the creative and responsible decisions that undecidability makes possible. Limited Inc has four parts and I will interpret it in terms of the four main concepts of Derrida. I will relate signature, event, context to Derrida’s notion of dissemination and show how he differs from Austin and Searle concerning the notion of the signature of the one who writes and gives. Next, I will show how in his reply to Derrida, entitled, “Reiterating the Differences”, Searle overlooks Derrida’s thought about the communication of intended meaning that has to do with Derrida’s distinction between force and meaning and his notion of differance. Here I will show that Searle cannot even follow his own criteria for doing philosophy. Then by looking at Limited Inc, I show how Derrida differs from Searle because repeatability is alterability. Derrida has an ethical intent all along to show that it is the ethos of alterity that is called forth by responsibility and accounted for by dissemination and difference. Of course, comments on comments, criticisms of criticisms, are subject to the law of diminishing fleas, but I think there are here some misconceptions still to be cleared up, some of which seem to still be prevalent in generally sensible quarters.
    [Show full text]
  • Derrida in the University, Or the Liberal Arts in Deconstruction / C
    Derrida in the University, or the Liberal Arts in Deconstruction / C. Kelly 49 CSSHE SCÉES Canadian Journal of Higher Education Revue canadienne d’enseignement supérieur Volume 42, No. 2, 2012, pages 49-66 Derrida in the University, or the Liberal Arts in Deconstruction Colm Kelly St. Thomas University ABSTRACT Derrida’s account of Kant’s and Schelling’s writings on the origins of the mod- ern university are interpreted to show that theoretical positions attempting to oversee and master the contemporary university find themselves destabilized or deconstructed. Two examples of contemporary attempts to install the lib- eral arts as the guardians and overseers of the contemporary university are examined. Both examples fall prey to the types of deconstructive displace- ments identified by Derrida. The very different reasoning behind Derrida’s own institutional intervention in the modern French university is discussed. This discussion leads to concluding comments on the need to defend pure re- search in the humanities, as well as in the social and natural sciences, rather than elevating the classical liberal arts to a privileged position. RÉSUMÉ Le compte-rendu de Derrida sur les écrits de Kant et de Schelling portant sur les origines de l’université moderne démontre que des positions théoriques tentant de surveiller et de gouverner l’université contemporaine se trouvent déstabilisées et déconstruites. L’auteur étudie deux exemples de tentatives contemporaines visant à donner aux arts libéraux le statut de gardiens et de surveillants de l’université contemporaine. Les deux exemples en question ne tiennent pas la route devant les substitutions déconstructives identifiées par Derrida.
    [Show full text]
  • Jacques Derrida Law As Absolute Hospitality
    JACQUES DERRIDA LAW AS ABSOLUTE HOSPITALITY JACQUES DE VILLE NOMIKOI CRITICAL LEGAL THINKERS Jacques Derrida Jacques Derrida: Law as Absolute Hospitality presents a comprehensive account and understanding of Derrida’s approach to law and justice. Through a detailed reading of Derrida’s texts, Jacques de Ville contends that it is only by way of Derrida’s deconstruction of the metaphysics of presence, and specifi cally in relation to the texts of Husserl, Levinas, Freud and Heidegger, that the reasoning behind his elusive works on law and justice can be grasped. Through detailed readings of texts such as ‘To Speculate – on Freud’, Adieu, ‘Declarations of Independence’, ‘Before the Law’, ‘Cogito and the History of Madness’, Given Time, ‘Force of Law’ and Specters of Marx, de Ville contends that there is a continuity in Derrida’s thinking, and rejects the idea of an ‘ethical turn’. Derrida is shown to be neither a postmodernist nor a political liberal, but a radical revolutionary. De Ville also controversially contends that justice in Derrida’s thinking must be radically distinguished from Levinas’s refl ections on ‘the Other’. It is the notion of absolute hospitality – which Derrida derives from Levinas, but radically transforms – that provides the basis of this argument. Justice must, on de Ville’s reading, be understood in terms of a demand of absolute hospitality which is imposed on both the individual and the collective subject. A much needed account of Derrida’s infl uential approach to law, Jacques Derrida: Law as Absolute Hospitality will be an invaluable resource for those with an interest in legal theory, and for those with an interest in the ethics and politics of deconstruction.
    [Show full text]
  • Learning to Live Finally Learning to Live Finally the Last Interview
    ZJ ~T~} 'Along with Ludwig Wittgenstein and Martin Heidegger, Jacques Q, Qj Derrida, who died in Paris at the age of 74, will be remembered as —— one of the three most important philosophers of the 20th century.' LEARNING TO >*J — The New York Times r— ^-» With death looming, Jacques Derrida, the world's most famous __ *T\ philosopher - known as the father of 'deconstruction' - sat down ~' with journalist Jean Birnbaum of the French daily Le Monde. They LIVE FINALLY revisited his life's work and his impending death in a long, surpris• ingly accessible, and moving final interview. The Last Interview Sometimes called 'obscure' and branded 'abstruse' by his critics, the Derrida found in this book is open and engaging, reflecting on a long career challenging important tenets of European philosophy 'ACOUES DERRIDA from Plato to Marx. The contemporary meaning of Derrida's work is also examined, including a discussion of his many political activities. But, as Derrida says, 'To philosophize is to learn to die'; as such, this philosophical discussion turns to the realities of his imminent death-including life with a fatal cancer. In the end, this interview remains a touching final look at a long and distinguished career. The late Jacques Derrida was Director of Studies at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, France, and Professor of Humanities at the University of California, Irvine. ISBN 978-0-230-53785-9 9 780230 537859 Cover illustration © Carol Hayes Learning to Live Finally Learning to Live Finally The Last Interview Jacques Derrida An Interview with Jean Birnbaum Translated by Pascale-Anne Brault and Michael Naas With a bibliography by Peter Krapp All rights reserved.
    [Show full text]
  • As a Foreign Language: Rereading Deleuze and Derrida
    Pan-Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics 12(1), 29-46 The Becoming-Philosophy as a Foreign Language: Rereading Deleuze and Derrida Immanuel Kim University of California, Riverside Kim, I. (2008). The becoming-philsophy as a foreign language: Rereading Deleuze and Derrida. Journal of Pan-Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics, 12(1), 29-46. This paper will revisit French theorists, Gilles Deleuze and Jacques Derrida, on the notion of the future of philosophy. Although their approaches to the future (devenir [to become] for Deleuze and á venir [to come] for Derrida) of philosophy may differ, I will argue that their differences allow for a space of congruence and continuity in the not only the field of philosophy but in every academic field. The question of the future of philosophy needs to be addressed because of the “crisis” that each academic department seems to face with every new faculty appointment, influx in student registration, applying for funding, etc. Each and every department in the university context seems to have the need to “justify” and validate the purpose of that discipline. I am not proposing another theory for theory’s sake, but a call to deeply reconsider and re-evaluate the philosophy of and in each department. After all, faculty members who are not even “involved” in the philosophy department still possess a PhD. Key Words: Deleuze, Derrida, philosophy 1 An Attempt to Find a Place for Philosophy Where does [philosophy] find today its most appropriate place? (Derrida, 2002, p.3) Where would we begin to reread these two thinkers? From what point should we begin? Would a rereading proffer an ethical reading of their respective philosophies? What can these thinkers offer to the field of linguistics? What relationship does philosophy (especially with these French thinkers) have with applied linguistics? What are the pragmatics of philosophy in the field research of applied linguistics? I will attempt to find a “place” where philosophy can enter even in the field of linguistics in order to iterate the importance of pragmatic research.
    [Show full text]
  • Violence and Life in the Work of Jacques Derrida and Theodor Adorno
    DePaul University Via Sapientiae College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences Theses and Dissertations College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences 6-2012 Critical ecologies: Violence and life in the work of Jacques Derrida and Theodor Adorno Richard L. Elmore II DePaul University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/etd Recommended Citation Elmore, Richard L. II, "Critical ecologies: Violence and life in the work of Jacques Derrida and Theodor Adorno" (2012). College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences Theses and Dissertations. 117. https://via.library.depaul.edu/etd/117 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at Via Sapientiae. It has been accepted for inclusion in College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Via Sapientiae. For more information, please contact [email protected]. DEPAUL UNIVERSITY Chicago, Illinois CRITICAL ECOLOGIES: VIOLENCE AND LIFE IN THE WORK OF JACQUES DERRIDA AND THEODOR ADORNO A dissertation completed in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Rick Elmore 2011 Table of Contents 1. Table of Contents …………………………………………………………………. 2 2. Abstract ……………………………………………………………………………. 3 3. Introduction ……………………………………………………………………….. 4 4. Chapter One: Violence in the Work of Jacques Derrida……………………….. 13 i. Originary Reparations: The “Violence” Before “Violence”……. 14 ii. Lévi-Strauss and The Violence of Ethnocentrism ………………. 27 iii. Four Characteristics of Reparatory Violence …………………... 34 5. Chapter Two: Derrida and the Critique of Non-Violence ……………………... 43 i. Philosophy at the Threshold of Death: Levinas, Violence, and Subjectivity ………………………………………………………... 44 ii.
    [Show full text]
  • Derrida and Postmodernity: at the End(S) of History
    THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICHESTER An accredited institution of the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON Derrida and Postmodernity: At the End(s) of History Sally Hart Doctor of Philosophy Department of History I April 2007 This thesis has been completed as a requirement for a higher degree of the University of Southampton. WS 2250357 9 1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 THE UNIVERSITY OF CmCHESTER An accredited institution of the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON ABSTRACT Doctor of Philosophy DERRIDA AND POSTMODERNITY: AT THE END(S) OF mSTORY By Sally Hart This thesis has been completed as a requirement for a higher degree of the University of Southampton. This thesis erects and defends the proposition that Jacques Derrida's readings of 'metaphysics in deconstruction' and his raising to theoretical consciousness of the 'differential matrix', have the capacity to inaugurate a 'brave new world' in this postmodern 'age of the aporia'. Beginning with an examination ofDerrida's readings ofHusserl and Saussure, it is argued that the radical historicity uncovered here qua an originary synthesis of language, time and the other, opens the possibility for greatly more democratising and emancipating self-creations and human solidarities to be thought. In terms of 'self-creations', and borrowing from the work of Elizabeth Deeds Ermarth, Chapter Two follows Derrida as modernity's sovereign subject and its 'History' are dis-placed by an absolutely affirmative postmodern subjectivity whose axiom might be 'I inherit, therefore, I am ... yes, yes ... ' Construed through his deconstructive reading of Kant, Derrida shows the way in which this postmodern subjectivity without alibi, makes of us all (like it or not, know it or not) resistance fighters, so many singularities existing in constant tension with all normalisingltotalising tendencies (social, economic, techno-scientific, political, legal etc ..
    [Show full text]
  • Derrida's Declarations of Independence
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by University of the Western Cape Research Repository De Ville, J. (2008). Sovereignty without sovereignty: Derrida’s Declarations of Independence. LAW AND CRITIQUE, 19: 87-114 Sovereignty without sovereignty: Derrida’s Declarations Of Independence Jacques de Ville Abstract This article questions the common assumptions in legal theory regarding Derrida’s well-known Declarations of Independence . Through a close reading of this text, well-known ground such as the relation between speech and writing, the notion of representation, speech act theory, the signature, and the proper name is covered. The contribution that this analysis makes in the present context lies in the additional ‘step’ that it takes. The article seeks to give an explanation of the laws at work in Derrida’s thinking in the above respects and to explain more specifically how they find expression in Declarations of Independence . The article in this regard also investigates the importance and role of the ‘notions’ of death, loss of meaning, loss of ownership, and loss of sovereignty in Derrida’s thinking. The contention is that if we take account of Derrida’s reading in Declarations of Independence , it is possible to view constitutions in a very different way, more specifically their ‘origins’, with inevitable implications for constitutional interpretation. Keywords constitution, Derrida, interpretation, iterability, justice, proper name, representation, signature, sovereignty, speech acts INTRODUCTION The importance for constitutional theory of Jacques Derrida’s 1976 essay Declarations of Independence 1 has been acknowledged and commented on by a number of scholars.
    [Show full text]
  • DERRIDA and EDUCATION in PHILOSOPHY Steven Burik Singapore Management University Broward College Singapore National University of Singapore
    297 OPENING PHILOSOPHY TO THE WORLD: DERRIDA AND EDUCATION IN PHILOSOPHY Steven Burik Singapore Management University Broward College Singapore National University of Singapore ABSTRACT. In this essay, Steven Burik discusses Jacques Derrida’s position with regard to the place of education in philosophy within the university system, and then relates these thoughts to comparative philosophy. Philosophers find themselves constantly having to defend philosophy and the importance of teaching philosophy against pressure from the powers that be. Burik contends that the argument Derrida set forth to ‘‘protect’’ philosophy entails a double bind: Derrida emphasized the value and importance of philosophical thinking while at the same time criticizing the limits of philosophy, both self-mandated and externally imposed. Derrida’s defense of philosophy was anything but a protection of the status quo, according to Burik. Derrida ultimately argued that the teaching of philosophy and philosophy itself should be inherently open to new developments. Burik relates Derrida’s defense of philosophy and attack on mainstream philosophy to comparative philosophy, demonstrating that both argue for an expansion of thinking beyond the narrow Western confines of philosophy as ‘‘pure’’ reason or rationality by showing how alterity always inserts itself, and that both seek to give this alterity a valid place in educational systems. INTRODUCTION In light of the recent translations of Jacques Derrida’s main work on education and philosophy, Du droit a` la philosophie, I propose to discuss his thoughts with regard to the place of education in philosophy, in particular within today’s university system, and relate these thoughts to comparative philosophy.1 Derrida has argued that philosophy should definitely be taught in secondary schools and universities, yet nowadays philosophers find themselves constantly having to defend philosophy and the teaching of it against ever-increasing pres- sures from the powers that be.
    [Show full text]
  • A Companion to Derrida Blackwell Companions to Philosophy
    A Companion to Derrida Blackwell Companions to Philosophy This outstanding student reference series offers a comprehensive and authoritative survey of philoso- phy as a whole. Written by today’s leading philosophers, each volume provides lucid and engaging cover- age of the key figures, terms, topics, and problems of the field. Taken together, the volumes provide the ideal basis for course use, representing an unparalleled work of reference for students and specialists alike. Already published in the series: 1. The Blackwell Companion to Philosophy, Second Edition 29. A Companion to Heidegger Edited by Nicholas Bunnin and Eric Tsui-James Edited by Hubert L. Dreyfus and Mark A. Wrathall 2. A Companion to Ethics 30. A Companion to Rationalism Edited by Peter Singer Edited by Alan Nelson 3. A Companion to Aesthetics, Second Edition 31. A Companion to Pragmatism Edited by Stephen Davies, Kathleen Marie Higgins, Edited by John R. Shook and Joseph Margolis Robert Hopkins, Robert Stecker, and David E. Cooper 32. A Companion to Ancient Philosophy 4. A Companion to Epistemology, Second Edition Edited by Mary Louise Gill and Pierre Pellegrin Edited by Jonathan Dancy, Ernest Sosa and Matthias Steup 33. A Companion to Nietzsche 5. A Companion to Contemporary Political Philosophy Edited by Keith Ansell Pearson (two-volume set), Second Edition 34. A Companion to Socrates Edited by Robert E. Goodin and Philip Pettit Edited by Sara Ahbel-Rappe and Rachana Kamtekar 6. A Companion to Philosophy of Mind 35. A Companion to Phenomenology and Existentialism Edited by Samuel Guttenplan Edited by Hubert L. Dreyfus and Mark A. Wrathall 7.
    [Show full text]
  • JACQUES DERRIDA 3 4 5111 6 7 8 9 10111 11 2 3111 4 5 6 7 1118 ‘Excellent, Strong, Clear and Original’
    º1111 2 JACQUES DERRIDA 3 4 5111 6 7 8 9 10111 11 2 3111 4 5 6 7 1118 ‘Excellent, strong, clear and original’. Jacques Derrida. 9 ‘A strong, inventive and daring book that does much more than most introductions are 20111 capable of even dreaming’. Diane Elam, Cardiff University. 1 ‘Readers couldn’t ask for a more authoritative and knowledgeable guide. Although there 2 is no playing down of the immensity of the implications of Derrida’s work, Royle’s direct and often funny mode of address will make it less threatening than it can often 3 appear to beginners’. Derek Attridge, University of York. 4 In this entertaining and provocative introduction, Royle offers lucid explanations of var- 5 ious key ideas, including deconstruction, differance and the democracy to come. He also 6 gives attention, however, to a range of perhaps less obvious topics, such as earthquakes, 7 animals and animality, ghosts, monstrosity, the poematic, drugs, gifts, secrets, war and 8 mourning. Derrida is seen as an extraordinarily inventive thinker, as well as a brilliantly 9 imaginative and often very funny writer. Other critical introductions tend to highlight the specifically philosophical nature and genealogy of his work. Royle’s book proceeds 30111 in a new and different way, in particular by focusing on the crucial but strange place of 1 literature in Derrida’s writings. He thus provides an appreciation and understanding 2 based on detailed reference to Derrida’s texts, interwoven with close readings of liter- 3 ary works. In doing so, he explores Derrida’s consistent view that deconstruction is a 4 ‘coming-to-terms with literature’.
    [Show full text]
  • Derrida and the Problem of History 1964-1965
    01.09.2016 1 Derrida and the Problem of History 1964-1965 Sean Gaston HISTORICITY AND NON-HISTORICITY One can only praise the patience and care of Thomas Dutoit, Marguerite Derrida and Geoffrey Bennington for deciphering the hand-written lectures that Jacques Derrida delivered at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in late 1964 and early 1965. 1 The publication of Heidegger: The Question of Being and History gives us an extended examination of the problem of history prior to Of Grammatology (1967). Despite its opening dismissal of “the classical categories of history,” Derrida would later insist that Of Grammatology was “a history book through and through.” 2 Derrida’s most celebrated work argues that neither speech nor nature can be taken as an a-historical essence because to register itself as natural it must be supplemented by the cultural, the conventional and the historical. At the same time, this supplement cannot be taken as a historical determination. Derrida’s “history book” evokes fluid terms such as the trace and differance to account for a new history of metaphysical concepts that cannot be reduced to a customary historicism. 01.09.2016 2 In his subsequent work, which responded in part to the common charge of an ahistorical underpinning, Derrida took pains to emphasize that whatever has been historically instituted, founded or constructed can be deconstructed because “neither their origin nor their solidity is natural.” 3 Once the dust settles over Derrida’s use of the term text to describe a differentiated framework that exceeds both the claims of linguistics for a pure science of language and the metaphysical motifs that still dominate the treatment of speech and writing in philosophy, we may come to see that history was the great problem that dominated Derrida’s philosophical thinking in the 1950s and 1960s.
    [Show full text]