Derrida

• Deconstruction: Concept

  Deconstruction is a method developed by Derrida to analyse texts and uncover inherent contradictions and assumptions. It aims to show that there is no fixed, external truth and that any notion of eternity is subjective.
• Deconstruction: Truth and Delay

  Derrida suggests that the truth we find is always deferred, never fully aligning with an objective truth. There is always a gap between our understanding and the ultimate truth.
• Structuralism: Fluctuating Reference

  Structuralism highlights the dynamic relationship between the signifier (the word) and the signified (the concept it represents). This relationship is not stable but constantly shifting.
• Structuralism: Historical Viewpoint

  Structuralist theory, including Derrida's work, introduces a historical perspective, showing that meanings evolve over time.
• Ancient Philosophy and Writing: Plato and Orality

  Plato prioritized spoken word over writing, viewing writing as secondary and external to the true essence of knowledge.
• Ancient Philosophy and Writing: Externality of Writing

  Derrida critiques this view, arguing that writing carries its own significance and power.
• Heteronomy: Definition

  Heteronomy refers to the obligation to follow laws or rules that are beyond one's control. It highlights the external influences on individual actions and decisions.
• Language and Meaning: Uncertainty of Meaning

  Derrida asserts that "I can never be certain that what I say means the same to me as it does to others," emphasizing the subjective nature of interpretation.
• Différance: Concept

  Derrida introduces "différance" to explain how words generate meaning through their differences from other words, rather than through any intrinsic essence.
• Différance: Effects of Différance

  1. Loss of Meaning: As words interact, their meanings can become diluted or altered.
  2. Absences (Traces, Sediments): Words carry connotations from past usages, influencing their current meaning.
  3. Exteriority: Meanings exist outside individual intentions and control.
  4. Heteronomy: Meanings are temporarily fixed, subject to change over time.
• Dissemination: Plato’s View

  Plato argued that writing leads to an uncontrollable spread of ideas.
• Dissemination: Derrida’s View

  Derrida contends that dissemination means there is no transparency or fixed meaning in writing. References are always shifting, with no objective reality behind them.
• Deconstruction as Disassembling: Not Destruction

  Deconstruction is not about destroying texts but about taking them apart to reveal hidden assumptions and contradictions.
• Deconstruction as Disassembling: Margin of the Text

  Focuses on the unwritten, the marginal aspects of texts that influence meaning.
• Deconstruction of Time as “Presence”: Time and Presence

  Time is traditionally understood as a sequence of present moments, but Derrida deconstructs this notion.
• “A past that has never been present”

  The past is never fully present; it is always a reconstructed memory.
• Futur

  Represents the endless deferral of the present moment, a future that never arrives as 'now.'
• À venir

  Refers to something that is always to come, perpetually delayed and never fully present. This concept is linked to the idea of a messianic future in Jewish thought, where ultimate fulfilment is always forthcoming but never realized.
• Deconstruction of Time as “Presence”: Law System

  Derrida uses the example of the legal system to illustrate that full justice is an ideal that can never be fully achieved, hence "undeconstructible."