Prodigiously influential, Jacques Derrida gave rise to a comprehensive rethinking of the basic concepts and categories of Western philosophy in the latter part of the twentieth century, with writings central to our understanding of language, meaning, identity, ethics and values. In 1993, a conference was organized around the question, 'Whither Marxism?’, and Derrida was invited to open the proceedings. His plenary address, 'Specters of Marx', delivered in two parts, forms the basis of this book. Hotly debated when it was (...) first published, a rapidly changing world and world politics have scarcely dented the relevance of this book. (shrink)

These two lectures by Jacques Derrida, 'Foreigner Question: Come from Abroad' and 'Step of Hospitality/No Hospitality', derive from a series of seminars on 'hospitality' conducted by Derrida in Paris, January 1996. The book consists of two texts on facing pages. 'Invitation' by Anne Dufourmantelle appears on the left clarifying and inflecting Derrida's 'response' on the right. The interaction between them not only enacts the 'hospitality' under discussion, but preserves something of the rhythms of teaching. The book also characteristically combines (...) careful readings of canonical texts and philosophical topics with attention to the most salient events in the contemporary world, using 'hospitality' as a means of rethinking a range of political and ethical situations. For example, Antigone is revisited in light of the question of impossible mourning; the trial of Socrates is brought into conjunction with the televised funeral of François Mitterrand. (shrink)

In Archive Fever , Jacques Derrida deftly guides us through an extended meditation on remembrance, religion, time, and technology--fruitfully occasioned by a deconstructive analysis of the notion of archiving. Intrigued by the evocative relationship between technologies of inscription and psychic processes, Derrida offers for the first time a major statement on the pervasive impact of electronic media, particularly e-mail, which threaten to transform the entire public and private space of humanity. Plying this rich material with characteristic virtuosity, Derrida constructs (...) a synergistic reading of archives and archiving, both provocative and compelling. "Judaic mythos, Freudian psychoanalysis, and e-mail all get fused into another staggeringly dense, brilliant slab of scholarship and suggestion."-- The Guardian "[Derrida] convincingly argues that, although the archive is a public entity, it nevertheless is the repository of the private and personal, including even intimate details."-- Choice "Beautifully written and clear."--Jeremy Barris, Philosophy in Review "Translator Prenowitz has managed valiantly to bring into English a difficult but inspiring text that relies on Greek, German, and their translations into French."-- Library Journal. (shrink)

Is there, today," asks Jacques Derrida, "another 'question of religion'?" Derrida's writings on religion situate and raise anew questions of tradition, faith, and sacredness and their relation to philosophy and political culture. He has amply testified to his growing up in an Algerian Jewish, French-speaking family, to the complex impact of a certain Christianity on his surroundings and himself, and to his being deeply affected by religious persecution. Religion has made demands on Derrida, and, in turn, the study of (...) religion has benefited greatly from his extensive philosophical contributions to the field. Acts of Religion brings together for the first time Derrida's key writings on religion, along with two new essays translated by Gil Anidjar that appear here for the first time in any language. These texts are organized around the secret holding of links between the personal, the political, and the theological. In these texts, Derrida's reflections on religion span from negative theologyto the limits of reason and to hospitality. Acts of Religion will serve as an excellent introduction to Derrida's remarkable contribution to religious studies. (shrink)

This collection of essays and interviews, some previously unpublished and almost all of which appear in English for the first time, encompasses the political and ethical thinking of Jacques Derrida over thirty years. Passionate, rigorous, beautifully argued, wide-ranging, the texts shed an entirely new light on his work and will be welcomed by scholars in many disciplines--politics, philosophy, history, cultural studies, literature, and a range of interdisciplinary programs. Derrida's arguments vary in their responsiveness to given political questions--sometimes they are (...) vivid polemics on behalf of a position or figure, sometimes they are reflective analyses of a philosophical problem. They are united by the recurrent question of political decision or responsibility and the insistence that the apparent simplicity or programmatic character of political decision is in fact a profound avoidance of the political. This volume testifies to the possibility and the necessity of a philosophical politics. Negotiations assembles some of the most telling examples of the intrinsic relationship, so often affirmed by Derrida in more abstract philosophical terms, between deconstructive reading practices and what is called the "political"--more precisely, politics in an almost down-to-earth, pragmatic, and commonsense use of the word. Among the many subjects covered in the book are: the death penalty in the United States, the civil war in Algeria, globalization and cosmopolitanism, the American Declaration of Independence, Jean-Paul Sartre, the value of objectivity, politics and friendship, and the relationship between deconstruction and actuality. (shrink)

L'archéologie, par la documentation considérable qu'elle apporte sur l'expérience de la guerre et la réalité de la violence, renouvelle notre compréhension des conflits, depuis la Préhistoire jusqu'à aujourd'hui. Son approche anthropologique a en effet libéré la recherche des contraintes de l'histoire militaire et stratégique, les violences du XXe siècle conduisant la discipline vers de nouveaux enjeux liés à l'expertise médico-légale, à la récupération de la mémoire historique et au droit. Guerres et combats ne sont plus uniquement relatés par les archives (...) des vainqueurs, mais étudiés par l'archéologue en prenant en compte l'ensemble des documents mis au jour : champs de bataille, dépôts d'armes, restes humains, garnisons, camps de prisonniers ou d'internement... La propagande est déconstruite, images et objets sont contextualisés, le cadre économique et social du conflit est restitué, la réalité de la violence collective est analysée. Et les morts peuvent sortir de leur anonymat. Dans cet ouvrage, qui propose une grande variété d'éclairages sur les violences et les guerres, l'archéologie apparaît ainsi à la fois comme la science de la mémoire matérielle des hommes et comme un instrument au service de la longue histoire du savoir, des techniques et de la diversité culturelle qui fait la richesse de l'humanité. (shrink)

Eranos Tagung 2020 “Rinascere : la vita minacciata e la passione della vita” Casa Eranos, Ascona-Moscia, 3-5 settembre 2020 Prof. Jean-Jacques Wunenburger 4 settembre 2020 - Philosophie – Nouvel article.

Ce texte a déjà paru sur RussEurope le 6 mars 2015. Nous remercions Jacques Sapir de nous avoir autorisé à le reproduire ici. L'analyse des formes économiques qui commencent à se coaguler en Russie depuis 2000 suggère le retour à un modèle de développement où le poids de l'État sera particulièrement important, que ce soit sous des formes directes ou indirectes. Dans le même temps, ces formes économiques ne sont pas sans rappeler celles que l'on trouvait dans le modèle (...) de développement russe des années - Économie et Marxisme. (shrink)

In this 2004 interview — translated into English and published in its entirety for the first time — Jacques Derrida reflects upon his practices of writing and teaching, about the community of his readers, and explores questions related to corporeity and textuality, sexual difference, desire, politics, Marxism, violence, truth, interpretation, and translation. In the course of the interview, Derrida discusses the work of Martin Heidegger, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Maurice Blanchot, Hélène Cixous, Jean Genet, Paul Celan, and many others.

Pour bien établir que le poète n’a pas pour tâche de rendre simplement ce qu’il a sous les yeux, mais, bien plutôt, de faire apparaître les choses dans leur advenir même, l’œuvre du poète grec Pindare s’impose à nous comme l’une des plus propres à manifester la vérité de cette thèse ; c’est l’étude de ses Odes Victoriales, principalement de la Septième Olympique dans son développement, qui va nous fournir de quoi la déterminer concrètement, en nous montrant comment le poète (...) procède en toute conscience. (shrink)

Stereo-electroencephalography is a method that uses stereotactically implanted depth electrodes for extra-operative mapping of epileptogenic and functional networks. sEEG derived functional mapping is achieved using electrical cortical stimulations that are currently the gold standard for delineating eloquent cortex. As this stands true especially for primary cortices, ECS applied to higher order brain areas determine more subtle behavioral responses. While anterior and posterior language areas in the dorsal language stream seem to share characteristics with primary cortices, basal temporal language area in (...) the ventral temporal cortex behaves as a highly associative cortex. After a short introduction and considerations about methodological aspects of ECS using sEEG, we review the sEEG language mapping literature in this perspective. We first establish the validity of this technique to map indispensable language cortices in the dorsal language stream. Second, we highlight the contrast between the growing empirical ECS experience and the lack of understanding regarding the fundamental mechanisms underlying ECS behavioral effects, especially concerning the dispensable language cortex in the VTC. Evidences for considering network architecture as determinant for ECS behavioral response complexities are discussed. Further, we address the importance of designing new research in network organization of language as this could enhance ECS ability to map interindividual variability, pathology driven reorganization, and ultimately identify network resilience markers in order to better predict post-operative language deficit. Finally, based on a whole body of available studies, we believe there is strong evidence to consider sEEG as a valid, safe and reliable method for defining eloquent language cortices although there have been no proper comparisons between surgical resections with or without extra-operative or intra-operative language mapping. (shrink)

In his essay “La judéité dans la musique,” Richard Wagner’s horrid portrayal of a Jew by way of physical, economical, linguistic and musical description exposed his anti-Semitic convictions. Much of this aspect has either been forgotten or softened, however, when evoking Wagner, it is in fact the relationship between his anti-Semitism and his work that is the most problematic. This paper proposes to consider three symbolic forms through which this reticence is expressed by looking at the the theoretical writings, opera (...) booklets and their music. Using the Beckmesser character in Les Maîtres Chanteurs de Nuremberg, although Beckmesser is not introduced as a Jew but rather a good German bourgeois, one cannot deny the allegory positioning him as a Jew. First element of demonstration: the analogical resemblance between Beckmesser and the Viennese music critic Eduard Hanslick to whom Wagner accused of hiding his Jewishness. Second element: it has already been proven that Beckmesser’s serenade sung during the second act to the Master Singers was a mockery of a Jewish prayer. Third element: in Cosima’s, Wagner’s wife, diary she explains that this particular piece generated at that time a strong reaction by the Jewish community in Vienna, thus supporting the claim that his antisemitism was already known and problematic to his contemporaries. (shrink)

"Vous êtes perdus si vous oubliez que les fruits sont à tous et que la terre n'est à personne." Le Discours est une critique virulente et toujours actuelle d'une société où l'homme est dépossédé dès sa naissance de sa qualité d'homme. Il faut relire J.-J. Rousseau. Ses attaques contre le travail, la propriété et, en général, la vie sociale telle que nous la trouvons constituée dans un monde où nous sommes jetés sans l'avoir voulu ont, pour nos oreilles, des échos (...) à la fois très modernes et inattendus. La Reine fantasque est un conte "gai et fou". (shrink)

. Fresh evidence from Free Choice Items (FCIs) in French question the current perception of the class. The role of some standard distinctions found in the literature is weakened or put in a new perspective. The distinction between universal and existential is no longer an intrinsic property of FCIs. Similarly, the opposition between variation-based vs intension-based analyses is relativized. We show that the regime of free choiceness can be characterized by an abstract constraint, that we call Non-Individuation (NI), and which (...) can be satisfied in different ways that match current distinctions. NI says that the information conveyed by a sentence containing a FCI should not be reducible to a referential situation, that is a situation in which particular individuals satisfy the sentence in the current world. The widely used resource of modal variation becomes a particular scenario of free-choiceness, not its essence. In fact, we show that under certain conditions, FCIs can occur in episodic, non-modal sentences, a fact that NI can accommodate. We also discuss more fine-grained aspects of the semantics of FCIs, such as their emotional colour. (. . .) the tripod fell spontaneously, because, though it stood on its feet so as to serve for a seat, it did not fall so as to serve for a seat. Aristotle, Physics II,6. (shrink)

"Dans les années 1960, Gilbert Durand, marqué par Gaston Bachelard, a développé une conception globale, complexe, transdisciplinaire de l'imagination, centrée sur le mythe langagier et les langages visuels. Parallèlement à Claude Lévi-Strauss, qui mettait en avant la notion de structure mythique et d'enracinement neuronal de la culture, G. Durand opta pour un "structuralisme figuratif" où la signification des images, tout en s'enracinant dans le biologique, relevait aussi d'une symbolisation, plus proche des psychanalyses et de G. Bachelard que de la sémiotique. (...) L'imagination et ses œuvres individuelles et collectives sont la résultante d'un "trajet anthropologique" qui s'étend des soubassements neurobiologiques aux matrices des mythes sociaux et religieux et vice versa. Plus de cinquante ans après, les avancées des sciences physiques et biologiques, neurologiques et cognitives permettent de jeter un regard nouveau sur l'ensemble des fonctions mentales, ainsi que sur les théories modernes du vivant et du cerveau. En quoi ces savoirs nouveaux éclairent-ils l'imagination et l'imaginaire, dans quelle mesure viennent-ils converger avec les références anciennes de G. Durand, quelle nouvelle anthropologie post-durandienne de l'imaginaire peut-on voir émerger?"--Page 4 of cover. (shrink)

"Thought Projections Are Nothing but Scenarios We Construct About Others and Are the Products of Our Own Closed-Mindedness. Report on the ""Living Philosophy"" Project. This text is a reflection on Projections. The aim here is to show that it is necessary to go beyond the Freudian concept to offer a more open reading of the concept of projections. The term is taken in its true sense. Projection is mainly used today in the world of cinema and entertainment. To be victim (...) of a projection is to “make himself is proper film” of reality and live in an imaginary world. Our idea is to maintain that these projections develop in the era of the spectacle which is ours. The term “société du spectacle” is borrowed from Guy Debord. However, we distinguish ourselves from him by maintaining that the spectacle is only an epiphenomenon which is only the result of a culture of secret itself produced by contemporary narcissism. This work is the continuation of a series of conferences which are organized within the framework of a movement called Living Philosophy. This movement aims to bring philosophy back to life by leading it into living spaces and bringing it down into bodies, streets and villages. To do this, she wants to be creative and bring together the Ancients, the Moderns and the post-moderns. Living Philosophy is a movement built on the idea of dialogue and mediation. Keywords: philosophie vivante; Freud, Sigmund; projections; Debord, Guy; narcisism.". (shrink)

Derrida’s recently published Life Death seminars have again highlighted the importance of values within the ongoing philosophical conversation about overcoming metaphysics. The seminars further indirectly raise a matter of great importance for constitutional theory. Values have become central to constitutional discourse since the mid-twentieth century despite critique due to their supposedly subjective nature, the potential conflict between them, and the legal uncertainty that they bring about. This essay enquires into the origin, logic, structure, and operation of (constitutional) values. It does (...) so through a close reading of the texts of Heidegger and Derrida in which Nietzsche’s call for a revaluation of values takes on a central role, along with a reflection on the relation between life and Being, as well as between life and death. A close reading of these texts in turn makes possible an unorthodox reading of Schmitt’s newly translated text on constitutional values in The Tyranny of Values, which finally opens the possibility of a move beyond such values and thus beyond metaphysics. (shrink)

Le libre-échange a été réaffirmé comme l’un des principes directeurs de l’économie mondiale lors du dernier G20 de Pittsburgh. Il est souvent présenté comme l’une des conditions de la croissance. Aujourd’hui, cependant, on est en mesure d’en dresser un bilan. Si personne n’envisage un retour à des économies autarciques, la mise en concurrence des économies n’a pas eu que..

In 1949, the photographer Lucien Hervé took a picture of an innovative apartment building in Marseille, France, and sent it to the building's architect, Le Corbusier. Le Corbusier responded by asking Hervé to become his official photographer. This book recounts the creative collaboration between these two groundbreaking Modernists. The author takes the reader on a tour of sixteen of Le Corbusier's most iconic buildings using Hervé's edited sheets of contact prints as visual guides. These sheets, which became an effective tool (...) in the collaborative dissemination of Le Corbusier's work, capture Hervé's dynamic perspectives and dramatic use of light. His sequencing of the individual prints creates an exhilarating rhythm that powerfully showcases the architect's novel forms and materials. (shrink)

Für den interkulturellen Dialog zwischen den europäischen Ländern und ihren muslimischen Nachbarn spielen die Künste eine zentrale Rolle. Jede Kunst hat eine ihr eigene Sprache entwickelt, die den Menschen hilft, in Beziehung zueinander zu treten und sich auszutauschen. Die Künste geben den Kulturen die Möglichkeit sich auszudrücken und tragen zur Entstehung kultureller Identität bei. Sie formen die Wahrnehmungen, Erinnerungen, Vorstellungen und damit das individuelle und kollektive Imaginäre. In ihnen erfahren die Menschen die Alterität anderer Kulturen und ihrer selbst und werden (...) dadurch gebildet. Die Künste sind nicht nur den Angehörigen ihrer Kultur, sondern allen Menschen zugänglich. Sie vermitteln heterologische Erfahrungen und haben daher für die Verständigung zwischen den verschiedenen Kulturen eine große Bedeutung. Zu den Autoren gehören Kulturwissenschaftler und Philosophen aus europäischen und muslimischen Ländern: Radwa Ashour, Hans Belting, Benmeziane Bencherki, Roland Bernecker, Christina von Braun, Paolo Fabbri, Lydia Goehr, Gertrud Koch, Klaus Krüger, Mustapha Larissa, Reyés Mate, Hamdi Mehrez, Marie-José Mondzain, Angelika Neuwirth, Ludgar Schwarte, Antoine Seif, Philippe Tancelin, Jacques Poulain, Fathi Triki, Rachida Triki, Hassan Wahibi,Christoph Wulf, Mohamed Zouzi-Chebbi. (shrink)