Jacques Derrida
Jacques Derrida was a French philosopher who is regarded as the founder of the deconstruction. He was one of the most influential of the thinkers of the twentieth century.
Early Life and Education
Derrida was born in 1930 in El Biar in French Algeria. He was of the Jewish descent and experienced the anti-Semitism of the Vichy regime.
He studied at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris. He was influenced by the philosophers Hegel, Husserl, and Heidegger.
He taught at the universities of Paris and the institutions in the United States. He was a visiting professor at the many universities.
The Deconstruction
Derrida published the book Of Grammatology in 1967. The work introduced the method that became known as the deconstruction.
He also published Writing and Difference and Speech and Phenomena in the same year. The three works established his reputation.
The deconstruction seeks to expose the hidden assumptions of the texts. The method shows the instability of the meaning and the hierarchy of the oppositions.
He argued against the logocentrism of the Western philosophy. The critique challenged the notion of the fixed meaning and the presence.
The Later Work
Derrida wrote on the many subjects including the philosophy and the literature and the politics. The works include the essays on the language and the justice.
He developed the concepts of the différance and the trace. The concepts express the deferral and the instability of the meaning.
He was involved in the political causes of the period. He wrote on the apartheid and the immigration and the European identity.
He taught at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris. He was the founder of the Collège International de Philosophie.
The Legacy
Derrida died in 2004 in Paris. He was one of the most cited and the most controversial of the contemporary philosophers.
His work has shaped the literary theory and the philosophy and the cultural studies. The deconstruction has been applied to the many fields.
The critics have accused the deconstruction of the obscurity and the relativism. The admirers defend the rigour and the originality of the method.
He is regarded as one of the most important of the post-structuralist thinkers. His work continues to be studied and debated.
The Deconstruction
Derrida published Of Grammatology in 1967. The work introduced the method of the deconstruction.
He also published Writing and Difference and Speech and Phenomena. The three works established his reputation.
The deconstruction seeks to expose the hidden assumptions of the texts.
The Critique of the Logocentrism
Derrida argued against the logocentrism of the Western philosophy. The critique challenged the notion of the fixed meaning.
He developed the concepts of the différance and the trace. The concepts express the deferral of the meaning.
The critique influenced the literary theory and the philosophy.
The Political Work
Derrida wrote on the many political subjects. The works include the essays on the justice and the hospitality.
He was involved in the political causes of the period. He wrote on the apartheid and the immigration.
He was the founder of the Collège International de Philosophie.
The Literary Theory
Derrida wrote on the literature and the language. The works include the essays on the poetry and the fiction.
He was influenced by the writers Mallarmé and Kafka. The readings of the texts became the models of the deconstruction.
The method has been applied to the many fields.
The Career
Derrida taught at the École Normale Supérieure and the École des Hautes Études. He was a visiting professor at the many universities.
He taught in the United States at the Johns Hopkins and the Yale. He was one of the most cited of the philosophers.
He received the honours from the institutions throughout the world.
The Legacy
Derrida died in 2004 in Paris. He was one of the most controversial of the contemporary philosophers.
His work has shaped the literary theory and the cultural studies. The deconstruction has been applied to the many fields.
His work continues to be studied and debated.
The Personal Life
Derrida married Marguerite Aucouturier in 1957 and the couple had two sons. His son Pierre became a writer.
He was known for his generosity to the students. He was a charismatic teacher and lecturer.
He died in 2004 in Paris and was one of the most cited of the philosophers.
The Influence
Derrida was one of the most cited and the most controversial of the philosophers. The deconstruction has been applied to the many fields.
The critics accused the method of the obscurity. The admirers defended the rigour and the originality.
He was a central figure of the post-structuralist thought.
See also
- Deconstruction
- Post-structuralism
- Différance
- Literary theory
References
- ↑ Derrida, Jacques. Of Grammatology. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1976.
- ↑ Derrida, Jacques. Writing and Difference. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978.
- ↑ Derrida, Jacques. Specters of Marx. New York: Routledge, 1994.
- ↑ Peeters, Benoît. Derrida: A Biography. Cambridge: Polity, 2013.