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Abstract
Jacques Derrida (1930-2004) is one of the most important French philosophers who contributed to the introduction of the concept of postmodernism in the contemporary culture and knowledge. His name is linked to some concepts that have been used in the philosophical journalism, but also in that of the literary theories, especially within the American space, such as: deconstruction, writing, trace, grammatology, spacing, difference, arch-writing, etc. which we aim to present in the following pages.
Keywords: postmodernism, philosophy, semiology, anthropology, structuralism.
Following the path of F. de Saussure, D. Hume, Fr. Nietzsche, M. Heidegger, L. Wittgenstein, Derrida develops the theory of deconstructionism, which helps him highlight the textual character of philosophical writing. In this regard, many analysts of the French philosopher have shown that the ideas present in his papers are developed on the basis of a literary thinking, characteristic to the style and not on a discursive model belonging to classical philosophy. For example, the Cluj interpreter, Aurel Codoban, in the preface of the book Exhibitions, shows that, nowadays, Derrida approaches in his papers issues regarding the relationship between philosophy and non-philosophy, starting from a philosophical discourse of literary genre. Basically, if we analyse Writing and difference, Voice and phenomenon, as well as About grammatology, papers belonging to the French author, we notice a proximity with the rhetoric used in augmenting the literary theories. Following the paths of the French structuralists, Derrida develops his position towards the (linguistic) sign. The French poststructuralist is opposed to the logocentrism promoted by Plato and the continental metaphysics which states the idea that words have a clear meaning which facilitates peoples' communication. He supports the speech which, according to the philosopher, has authentic meanings and communicates much better than writing, being closer to authentic thinking.
What the French philosopher accomplishes is basically a continuation of Heidegger's critical position on metaphysics. Therefore, if Heidegger situated the place of the human being in the language, as the original place, the French philosopher takes the critique of metaphysics even further, using some analysis of the theories of language. In fact, the philosopher's intentions are, on the one hand, to overcome Heidegger's teachings on being, Dasein and language, which express the metaphysics of the origin's final adventure and, on the other...