Jacques Derrida
Jacques Derrida
Jacques Derridawas a French philosopher, born in Algeria. Derrida is best known for developing a form of semiotic analysis known as deconstruction, which he discussed in numerous texts, and developed in the context of phenomenology. He is one of the major figures associated with post-structuralism and postmodern philosophy...
ProfessionPhilosopher
Date of Birth15 July 1930
Jacques Derrida quotes about
entered french-philosopher generality soon
As soon as there is language, generality has entered the scen.
plato philosophical mean
Learning to live ought to mean learning to die - to acknowledge, to accept, an absolute mortality - without positive outcome,or resurrection, or redemption, for oneself or for anyone else. That has been the old philosophical injunction since Plato: to be a philosopher is to learn how to die.
dream communication would-be
I always dream of a pen that would be a syringe.
translators mediators
We are all mediators, translators.
what-if doubt secret
But because me and myself, as you no doubt are well aware, we are going to die, my relation—and yours too—to the event of this text, which otherwise never quite makes it, our relation is that of a structurally posthumous necessity. Suppose, in that case, that I am not alone in my claim to know the idiomatic code (whose notion itself is already contradictory) of this event. What if somewhere, here or there, there are shares in this non-secret’s secret? Even so the scene would not be changed. The accomplices, as you are once again well aware, are also bound to die.
deconstruction
There is nothing outside the text
opening-up risk gestures
Peace is only possible when one of the warring sides takes the first step, the hazardous initiative, the risk of opening up dialogue, and decides to make the gesture that will lead not only to an armistice but to peace.
roles argument stage
I became the stage for the great argument between Nietzsche and Rousseau. I was the extra ready to take on all the roles.
dream philosophy writing
In Algeria, I had begun to get into literature and philosophy. I dreamed of writing-and already models were instructing the dream, a certain language governed it.
loving-someone expectations heidegger
Even if we're in a state of hopelessness, a sense of expectation is an integral part of our relationship to time. Hopelessness is possible only because we do hope that some good, loving someone could come. If that's what Heidegger meant, then I agree with him.
love-life language i-love-life
I love language as I love life itself!
poetic methodology discourse
Every discourse, even a poetic or oracular sentence, carries with it a system of rules for producing analogous things and thus an outline of methodology.
territory certain institutions
Certain readers resented me when they could no longer recognize their territory, their institution.
philosopher scientist easier
Why is it the philosopher who is expected to be easier and not some scientist who is even more inaccessible?