Le séminaire “La vie la mort” de Derrida opère, comme d’avance motivé par ses suites et comme contresigné par ce nom qui n’apparaît pas—le nom d’Épicure—un virage vers un matérialisme non productif, non représentationnel, dépourvu en quelque sorte de statut ontologique, voire non ontologisable, triomphant, normatif, voué à une économie de la cause. Nietzsche, lecteur antagonique d’Épicure (Lettre à Ménécée: “Accoutume-toi à considérer que la mort n'est rien pour nous”)—constitue son écran-substitut. Nietzsche, dont la lecture sert à fermer-ouvrir les grandes (...) boucles du séminaire de Derrida. Il s’agit donc de fouiller “La vie la mort” à la recherche des traces de la rencontre Nietzsche-Épicure—une rencontre définitive, elle, bien qu’invisible et silencieuse, bien que presqu’illisible dans le texte de Derrida, au sujet du rapport “la vie la mort.”. (shrink)

In Verfassungslehre, Carl Schmitt spells out the radical implications of his own analysis in Der Begriff des Politischen of the concept of the political. He argues in this respect that the political component of modern constitutions, which is suppressed by liberal thinking through its privilege of the rule of law, is the most important component of these constitutions. The political component refers essentially to the form of the political unity of a people. In showing the priority of the political component, (...) Schmitt inter alia insists on drawing a distinction between the constitution and constitutional laws, the resurrection of the concept of sovereignty, understanding equality as first of all and necessarily implying an inequality in respect of those who are excluded from the political unity, and on the subjection of freedom to the political component of the constitution. What would the implications be for constitutional theory if one were to take seriously Derrida’s deconstruction of Schmitt’s concept of the political in Politiques de l’amitié? This essay takes the first tentative steps in this direction, by exploring in detail Derrida’s analysis as well as the new structure of the political that comes to the fore in this text. (shrink)

Résumé Cette question pointe vers des domaines encore mal définis du contexte des théologies contemporaines. Ce contexte est à peine esquissé : l’essai se concentre sur l’état classique de la théologie telle qu’elle est entendue communément, depuis son héritage patristique mâle et clérical. L’interrogation sonde ce corpus à l’aide des propositions faites par Henri Meschonnic et par Jacques Derrida.The title of this paper directs our attention towards as-yet uncharted domains in contemporary theology. However, this aspect of the paper is (...) only sketched out, as it is primarily concerned with theology as it is commonly understood, that is, the legacy of the male, clerical Fathers. This corpus is examined using propositions put forth by Henri Meschonnic and by Jacques Derrida. (shrink)

Jacques Derrida: Law as Absolute Hospitalityãeepresents a comprehensive account and understanding of Derridaâe(tm)s approach to law and justice. Through a detailed reading of Derridaâe(tm)s texts, Jacques de Ville contends that it is only by way of Derrida's deconstruction of the metaphysics of presence, and specifically in relation to the texts of Husserl, Levinas, Freud and Heidegger - that the reasoning behind his elusive works on law and justice can be grasped. Through detailed readings of texts such as To (...) speculate âe" on Freud, Adieu, Declarations of Independence, Before the Law, Cogito and the history of madness, Given Time, Force of Law and Specters of Marx, De Ville contends that there is a continuity in Derridaâe(tm)s thinking, and rejects the idea of an âe~ethical turnâe(tm). Derrida is shown to be neither a postmodernist nor a political liberal, but a radical revolutionary. De Ville also controversially contends that justice in Derridaâe(tm)s thinking must be radically distinguished from Levinasâe(tm)s reflections on âe~the otherâe(tm). It is the notion of absolute hospitality - which Derrida derives from Levinas, but radically transforms - that provides the basis of this argument. Justice must on De Villeâe(tm)s reading be understood in terms of a demand of absolute hospitality which is imposed on both the individual and the collective subject. A much needed account of Derrida's influential approach to law,ãeeJacques Derrida: Law as Absolute Hospitalityãeewill be an invaluable resource for those with an interest in legal theory, and for those with an interest in the ethics and politics of deconstruction. (shrink)

El A. examina la lectura heideggeriana de Husserl y el rol atribuido a las Investigaciones 5gicas en El ser y el tiempo y en algunas de las lecciones de la época de Marburgo, a la luz de la lectura derridiana, en La voix et le hénomine de la teoría husserliana del signo del significado en la primera de las investgiaciones Lógicas. Según Derrida, ésta resultaría portadora de ciertos ejes claves de la metafísica como la doctrina de la idealidad la que, (...) en tanto "repetibilidad indefinida", privilegia el instante indivisible (Augenblick, ·guiño de ojo"), el que a su vez se halla sostenido por la forma última de la vida trascendental: la presencia a sí del Presente Viviente. Siendo las referencias de SZ al texto de Husserl no sólo escasas sino discretas, el A., para aclararlas, se apoya en ciertas lecciones claves de Heidegger de Marburgo (GA 20, 24 y 26). esto le permite sostener que Heidegger, aún cuando las desplaza y metamorfosea, aprueba y suscribe tanto la teoría del significado y del signo, como ciertas doctrinas fundamentales de la fenomenología de Husserl encadenándolas según un motivo intuicionista. El A. argumentará no solamente que el privilegio de la voz que "da a ver" y "a escuchar" se hallará en el corazón de la Bedeutung heideggeriana cuya forma suprema es el Ser, sino que el privilegio del "instante" prevalecerá sobre el movimiento diferenciado de la temporalización extática constituyendo así no sólo el suelo de la ontología fundamental sino la llave de toda la historia de-construida de la metafísica. (shrink)

Translatability in natural languages today supports, and can only be understood in the context of, economic globalization, and the universalization of market logic. ‘Untranslatability’, as it is most often construed, does not provide a critical alternative to this logic: it bolsters it. A different account of untranslatability is required: this essay seeks to provide such. It finds in passages in Marx and in Derrida's Monolinguisme de l'autre, and in different translations of those texts, an untranslatability which is not one, irreducible (...) to mathematical identity. (shrink)

Le temps réel nous afflige, inaugurant traumatiquement le tragique de la perte irréversible de la présence. La philosophie, jusqu'à J. Derrida inclus, en a su quelque chose, mais a occulté ce savoir en remettant dans le sujet, comme intentionnalité et auto-affection, ce qui vient du dehors l'arracher à lui-même. Freud en a su quelque chose, mais a relégué ce savoir dans la sphère des pensées privées, se laissant par ailleurs fasciner par la monstrueuse et merveilleuse atemporalité que lui présentait son (...) objet, l'inconscient. Ce que Lacan a confirmé, l'identifiant à la structure du signifiant. Sa pratique clinique lui a pourtant aussi inspiré, à de rares mais précieux moments, une écoute psychanalytique du temps sur laquelle on a ici mis l'accent. Restait alors à marquer la juste place de la préoccupation ontologique dans un champ psychique commandé d'abord par la pulsion et le narcissisme. Pulsion, narcissisme, souci de l'être et du néant : c'est ce nœud qui fait sens, ce que confortent deux études cliniques : celle de la mise en œuvre du temps continu androgynique chez Wagner, et celle de la philosophie du devenir créateur chez Nietzsche. (shrink)

Kant’s 1795 essay on perpetual peace has been lauded as one of his most important and influential political texts as well as one of the most important texts on peace. Kant’s text was largely forgotten until the 1980s and 1990s, with numerous commentaries appearing around the time of its 200 years existence. The French philosopher Jacques Derrida’s interest in Kant’s text appears to have arisen around the same time, and his analyses of this text continued after the turn of (...) the century. The references to Kant’s essay in Derrida’s texts appear mostly in the context of a discussion of the concept of hospitality. The latter concept is understood by Derrida as including both a demand for absolute hospitality, that is, hospitality without the imposition of any limitations, as well as a demand, in the interests of survival, for such limitations or conditions. A negotiation between these dimensions of hospitality is ultimately required. The aim of this article is to elucidate Derrida’s analysis of Kant’s essay, specifically his recasting of the concept of peace as absolute hospitality, as well as to briefly outline its implications for international and cosmopolitan law. (shrink)

This essay shows how Derrida, in a variety of texts, engages directly or indirectly with the Kantian moral law, which rests on the assumption of man's autonomy vis-à-vis his natural inclinations. In the background of this analysis is Derrida's engagement with Freud, the latter having argued that the Kantian moral law is located in, and can be equated with, the superego. Derrida challenges Freud's assignation of the moral law (solely) to the superego, and suggests that what appears to Kant as (...) the moral law and to Freud as the demands of the superego, already involve a limitation of a much more radical demand on the self: that of absolute sacrifice, and which one can understand with reference to Freud's death drive. This demand can be referred to as the law of law, that is, the law which makes of the moral law a law. Within this broader framework, the essay explores in detail Derrida's reading of Kant's notion of respect that is owed to the moral law, the notion of duty, and the formulation of the categorical imperative by Kant in terms of an ‘as if’. (shrink)

In this article the author explores Jacques Derrida’s reading in The Purveyor of Truth of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Purloined Letter. In his essay, Derrida proposes a reading which differs markedly from the interpretation proposed by Lacan in his Seminar on ‘The Purloined Letter’. To appreciate Derrida’s reading, which is not hermeneutic-semantic in nature like that of Lacan, it is necessary to look at the relation of Derrida’s essay to his other texts on psychoanalysis, more specifically insofar as the (...) Freudian death drive is concerned. The present article explores this ‘notion’ as elaborated on by Freud in Beyond the Pleasure Principle as well as Derrida’s reading of this text. It also investigates the importance of the ‘notion’ of the death drive as well as the significance of Derrida’s reading of The Purloined Letter for constitutional interpretation. (shrink)

Durant l'année scolaire 1960-1961, Jacques Derrida, alors assistant en philosophie générale et logique à La Sorbonne, entreprend une lecture de la phrase d'Alain, 'Penser, c'est dire non'. Ce cours magistral en quatre séances donne déjà à lire les marques d'une écriture déconstructrice à venir. Il s'inscrit aussi dans une pensée du 'oui non', de ce qu'est fondamentalement la pensée, et de ce qu'elle dit quand elle dit oui, non. Des questions qui servent de points d'appui pédagogiques récurrents à Derrida (...) dans les années 1960 décennie de pensée effervescente en France. À la lecture de cette présente édition, ces questions apparaissent aussi comme ayant toujours déjà été fondamentales à la pensée derridienne. Elles gardent aujourd'hui toute leur pertinence, à une époque où il est souvent difficile de dire la différence entre pensée et croyance. Entièrement inédit et rédigé à la main par Derrida pendant la guerre d'indépendance de son pays de naissance, l'Algérie, Penser, c'est dire non est le fruit d'un défi éditorial de plusieurs années qui donne lieu aujourd'hui à la publication d'un des textes les plus anciens du corpus derridien paru à ce jour.--Page 4 of cover. (shrink)

This essay enquires into the implications for criminal law of Derrida’s analysis in the Death Penalty seminars. The seminars include a reading of Kant’s Metaphysics of Morals, specifically Kant’s reflections on the sovereign right to punish, which is read in conjunction with the reflections of Freud and Reik on the relation between the unconscious and crime, as well as Nietzsche’s reflections on morality, punishment and cruelty. What comes to the fore in Derrida’s analysis is a system of economic exchange operating (...) on an unconscious level, of which criminal law forms an intrinsic part. Derrida’s analysis of the ‘origin’ of crime in the seminars poses serious questions to the assumption of freedom underlying modern criminal law. The link, which he posits between punishment and political theology, likewise challenges the existing theories and forms of punishment. What the seminars call for, in the name of the Kantian Enlightenment, is a radical break with economic circularity as it operates in respect of crime and punishment. (shrink)

The concept of the political -- Constituent power -- Identity and representation -- The concept of the constitution -- Human rights -- State, Grossraum, nomos.

This is an expanded edition of the first comprehensive overview of the work of Jean Baudrillard, one of the most fascinating thinkers on the French intellectual scene. To the original selection of his writings from 1968 to 1985, this new edition adds examples of Baudrillard's work since that time. _Reviews of the First Edition_ "This is a good book, and the author of its selected writings, Jean Baudrillard, deserves only a share of the compliment. It is difficult to introduce a (...) difficult author, and Mark Poster has done a brilliant job. He has selected wisely from Baudrillard's writings.... More important, Poster has written what may be, pound for pound, the best introduction to a social theorist I have read.... Poster has somehow said everything the uninitiated needs to know before deciding to read Baudrillard."—_Contemporary Sociology_ "Following the lead of thinkers such as Foucault, Derrida, and Deleuze, Baudrillard engages in a task of pointing _away_ from any traditional sociological themes. His writings demand that one turn away from convenient or customary interpretations of society and, in the process, one is forced to use his or her imagination in new ways."—_Choice_ "Poster's Introduction presents what is probably as clear and intelligent an exposition of Baudrillard's ideas as you'll find anywhere."—_Philosophy and Literature_. (shrink)

Investigates, by way of Derrida's engagements with Kant, how the foundations of modern constitutionalism can be differently conceived to address some of the challenges of the twenty-first century.

In this essay, one of Derrida’s early texts, Plato’s pharmacy, is analysed in detail, more specifically in relation to its reflections on writing and its relation to law. This analysis takes place with reference to a number of Derrida’s other texts, in particular those on Freud. It is especially Freud’s texts on dream interpretation and on the dream-work which are of assistance in understanding the background to Derrida’s analysis of writing in Plato’s pharmacy. The essay shows the close relation between (...) Derrida’s analysis of Plato’s texts and Freud’s study of the dream-work. The forces at work in dreams, it appears, are at play in all texts, which in turn explains Derrida’s contentions in relation to the pharmakon as providing the condition of possibility of Plato’s texts. The essay furthermore points to the continuity between this ‘early’ text of Derrida and his ‘later’, seemingly more politico-legal texts of the 1990s. A close reading of Plato’s pharmacy, with its investigation via ‘writing’ of the foundations of metaphysics, and thus also of the Western concept of law, is obligatory should one wish to comprehend how Derrida attempts to exceed the restricted economy of metaphysics through his analysis of concepts such as justice and hospitality. (shrink)

Cette édition numérique a été réalisée à partir d'un support physique, parfois ancien, conservé au sein du dépôt légal de la Bibliothèque nationale de France, conformément à la loi n° 2012-287 du 1er mars 2012 relative à l'exploitation des Livres indisponibles du XXe siècle. Pages de début I - Le problème du sens II - La non-négation III - Le sens du sens IV - Lévi-Strauss, Deleuze, Serres, Derrida V - Échec et sens VI - Des signes VII - Vector (...) et concept?s VIII -L'intotalisable Conclusion Pages de fin. (shrink)

Michel Foucault provides a radical challenge to the liberal approach to power and law, which is echoed by Jacques Derrida. Important differences exist between the analyses of Foucault and Derrida which should not be overlooked. This essay proceeds on the basis of an awareness of these differences, yet it at the same time attempts to bring these thinkers closer together, with reference specifically to the thinking of Freud. It is often said that Foucault does not offer an alternative to (...) that which he criticises or that his analyses do not provide for a way in which to escape from the effects of power. By specifically focusing on Foucault’s reliance on the notion of ‘play’ in Society must be defended, it is submitted that an ‘escape’ is in fact provided for. The deconstructive reading of Foucault which is presented here attempts to ensure that Foucault does not remain trapped within metaphysics. (shrink)

Dictionary entry on Jacques Derrida's relation to Judaism.

This extraordinary book offers a clear and compelling biography of Jacques Derrida along with one of Derrida's strangest and most unexpected texts. Geoffrey Bennington's account of Derrida leads the reader through the philosopher's familiar yet widely misunderstood work on language and writing to the less familiar themes of signature, sexual difference, law, and affirmation. In an unusual and unprecedented "dialogue," Derrida responds to Bennington's text by interweaving Bennington's text with surprising and disruptive "periphrases." Truly original, this dual and dueling (...) text opens new dimensions in Derrida's thought and work. "Bennington is a shrewd and well-informed commentator whose book should do something to convince the skeptics... that Jacques Derrida's work merits serious attention."—Christopher Norris, _New Statesman & Society_ "Geoffrey Bennington and Jacques Derrida have presented a fascinating example of what might be called post-structuralist autobiography."—Laurie Volpe, _French Review_ "Bennington's account of what Derrida is up to is better in almost all respects—more intelligent, more plausible, more readable, and less pretentious—than any other I have read."—Richard Rorty, _Contemporary Literature_. (shrink)

One of the most important thinkers of our time, Jacques Derrida continues to have a profound influence on postmodern thought and society. Christopher Watkin explains Derrida's complex philosophy with clarity and precision, showing not only what Derrida says about metaphysics, ethics, politics, and theology but also what assumptions and commitments underlie his positions. He then brings Derrida into conversation with Reformed theology through the lens of John 1:118, examining both similarities and differences between Derrida and the Bible. Learn why (...) Derrida says what he says and how Christians can receive and respond to his writing in a balanced, biblical way that is truly beneficial to cultural engagement. (shrink)