Jacques Derrida
by Michaela Wood
Jacques Derrida was born in Algeria on July 15, 1930. In the 1950s, he studied phenomenology at the École Normale Supérieure, one of the most selective and prestigious schools in Paris. During his time at the École Normale Supérieure, his dissertation on deconstruction was delivered as a speech at the “Structure, Sign, and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences” at a John Hopkins University conference. In 1967, he published three works: Writing and Difference, Speech and Phenomena, and Of Grammatology. Derrida taught at École Normale Supérieure his university until 1983, and later was the Director of Studies in Philosophical Institutions at École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris.
Derrida founded multiple theories and concepts: post-structuralism, deconstruction, différance, and Critiques of Western Metaphysics. Post-structuralism is charged by the idea of challenging structuralism’s assumption that systems are self-sufficient structures. Deconstruction exposes unacknowledged implications of existing traditions and is the understanding between text and meaning. Différance is a central concept of deconstruction, referring to the idea that words and signs cannot fully summon what they mean. Critiques of Western Metaphysics focus on Derrida’s argument that metaphysics creates dualistic oppositions, which affects the whole of philosophy from Plato onwards. Derrida passed in 2004. He published forty successful books during his career and is best noted for his influences on literary theory, continental philosophy, and most social sciences.
Primary Reading:
Derrida, Jacques. Dissemination. Trans. Barbara Johnson. University of Chicago Press, 2017.
Derrida, Jacques, et al. Speech and Phenomena: and Other Essays on Husserl's Theory of Signs. Trans. David B. Allison. Northwestern University Press, 1973.
Derrida, Jacques, et al. The Gift of Death ; &, Literature in Secret. Trans. David Wills. University of Chicago Press, 2008.
Derrida, Jacques. Specters of Marx: the State of the Debt, the Work of Mourning, and the New International. Trans. Peggy Kamuf. Routledge, 2011.
Further Reading:
Barnett, Clive. “deconstruction.” The Dictionary of Human Geography (5th ed.). Ed. Derek Gregory et al. Blackwell Publishers. 2009. Credo Reference: http://libproxy.union.edu/login?auth=shibboleth&url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/bkhumgeo/deconstruction/0?institutionId=5120. Accessed March 13. 2021.
"Deconstruction." Dictionary of Nursing Theory and Research, Ann Bethel Powers, Springer Publishing Company, 4th edition, 2010. Credo Reference, http://libproxy.union.edu/login?auth=shibboleth&url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/spnurthres/deconstruction/0?institutionId=5120. Accessed 20 Feb. 2021.
"Derrida, Jacques." Key Terms in Literary Theory, Mary Klage, Continuum, 1st edition, 2012. Credo Reference, http://libproxy.union.edu/login?auth=shibboleth&url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/contlt/derrida_jacques/0?institutionId=5120. Accessed 20 Feb. 2021.