Jacques Derrida

2005 G. Lee Griffith, Ph. D.

http://personales.ciudad.com.ar/Derrida/fotos3/jaq_derrida_03.jpg

Powel, J. (1997). Derrida for beginners. New York: Writers and Readers.

Grenz, S. J. (1996). A Primer on postmodernism. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans

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Language vs. Speech• Language does not have a constant

meaning connected to a fixed reality• Speech has a connection to reality that

writing does not have• Derrida deconstructs both

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Logocentrism

• The assumption that something lies beyond our system of linguistic signs to which a written work can refer to substantiate its claim to be an authentic statement.

cow =

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Rejection of Logocentrism• Rejects written language as the carrier

of meaning– Do we trust speech or written language

more?• There is no transcendental basis for

anchoring our language.• There is no meaning outside the text.• One can never reach “the”

interpretation of a text• One reading of a text is a preface to

the next.

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Transcendental Signified

• Sign = word ex. Cow• Signifier = the sound “cow”• Signified = the idea to which

the word refers• Referent = the thing itself.• Transcendental Signified =

the meaning beyond the universe that give meaning to everything else.Powel, J. (1997). Derrida for beginners. New York: Writers and Readers.

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Reason Deconstructs Reason

We must question reason with reason.

We must use reason to deconstruct reason.

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Deconstruction

• Decentering

• The use of certain philosophical assumptions to launch an assault on logocentrism.

• Movement betweenbinary opposites

• Free play betweenvarious readings

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Derrida’s Primary Goal

• To divest us of the logocentrism• By showing the impossibility of drawing a clear

line between reality and our linguistic representations.

• He wants to wean us from assuming that we can discover the meaning inherent in a text.

cow ?

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Christianity and Logocentrism

• There is meaning in the text that corresponds to a reality outside the text

• While any one person’s interpretation of the text is flawed

• There are several checks on the interpretation of a text

• Texts are best understood inside an interpretational community

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Christian Checks on Interpretation

• No individual interpretations

• Consistent with context• Consistent with the

rest of Scripture• Consistent with the

way one can live• Consistent with the

real world.