DerridaGeoffrey Bennington sets out here to write a systematic account of the thought of Jacques Derrida. Responding to Bennington's text at every turn is Derrida's own excerpts from his life and thought that, appearing at the bottom of each page, resist circumscription. Together these texts, as a dialogue and a contest, constitute a remarkably in-depth, critical introduction to one of the leading philosophers of the twentieth century and, at the same time, demonstrate the illusions inherent in such a project. Bennington's account of Derrida, broader in scope than any previously done, leads the reader through the philosopher's familiar yet still widely misunderstood work on language and writing to the less familiar and altogether more mysterious themes of signature, sexual difference, law, and affirmation. Seeking to escape this systematic rendering - in fact, to prove it impossible - Derrida interweaves Bennington's text with surprising and disruptive "periphrases": reflections on his mother's death agony, commentaries on St. Augustine's Confessions, memories of childhood, remarks on Judaism, and references to his collaborator's efforts. This extraordinary book offers, on the one hand, a clear and compelling account of one of the most difficult and important contemporary thinkers and, on the other, one of that thinker's strangest and most unexpected texts. Far from putting an end to the need to discuss Derrida, Bennington's text might have originally intended or pretended, this dual text opens new dimensions in the philosopher's thought and work and extends its challenge. |
Contents
The Beginning | |
Husserl 64 | 23 |
Context 84 | |
Beyond 98 | |
Time and Finitude 114 | |
Circumfession | 3 |
The Unconscious 133 | |
The Signature 148 | 27 |
Sexual Difference 204 | |
Femininity 212 | 15 |
Politics 228 | |
The Title 241 | |
by Jacques Derrida | |
315 | 25 |
Curriculum Vitae 325 | 49 |
Bibliography including list | 9 |
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Common terms and phrases
absolute according Algiers already appear attempt Ben Aknoun called circumcision Circumfession complicated concept confession context countersignature death deconstruction dialectic différance discourse double double bind El-Biar escarre essentially event everything example fact feminine finite finitude Geoffrey Bennington gift give Glas guage Hegel Heidegger Heidegger's Husserl infinite inscribed invoked Jacques Derrida Kant language less Levinas literature logic longer marked meaning memory ment metaphor metaphysics mohel mother mourning movement Nazism never Nietzsche oneself opposition passim periphrasis phallogocentric philosophy political possibility precisely present presuppose privilege proper name quasi-transcendental question quod reader reading recognize relation remains repetition respect rida Saint Augustine sense sentence sexual difference signature signifier simply simulacrum singular social contract speak structure tears thing Thou thought tion trace tradition transcendental translation truth trying understand weep whence word writing