International Journal of Humanities, Management and Social Science p-ISSN: 2685-2330, e-ISSN: 2685-2322 Original Research Paper A Philosophical Analysis of Jacques Derrida’s Contributions to Language and Meaning John Gabriel Mendie1, Stephen Nwanaokuo Udofia2 1 Department of Philosophy, University of Calabar, Nigeria 2 Department of Philosophy, University of Ibadan, Nigeria Article History Abstract: Far from being a banality or a philosophical naivety, there is a Received: quintessential nexus between language and meaning, in the philosophy of 29.05.2020 Jacques Derrida (1930-2004). The thrust of Derrida’s idea is that, language is chaotic and meaning is never fixed, in a way that allows us to effectively Revised: determine it (that is, meaning is unstable, undecided, provisional and ever 25.06.2020 differed). As a Poststructuralist, Derrida’s quarrel was with Logocentrism, Accepted: which privileges speech over writing, and hitherto assume that, we have an 27.06.2020 idea in our minds, which our writing or speaking attempts to express. But, this, for Derrida, is not the case, for no one possesses the full significance of *Corresponding Author: their words. Texts, in some sense write themselves: that is, are independent of John Gabriel Mendie an author or his intentions. Thus, in Derrida’s thinking, intentionality does not Email: play quite the same role, as is traditionally conceived in the philosophy of
[email protected] language; our intention does not determine the meaning of what we are
[email protected] saying. Instead, the meaning of the words we use, determines our intention, when we speak. This does not mean that we do not mean what we are saying, or that we cannot have intentions in communicating.