Derrida and Husserl

by Lawlor, Leonard

• ISBN13: 9780253215086
• ISBN10: 0253215080
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-06-01
• Publisher: Indiana Univ Pr

Summary

Leonard Lawlor investigates Derrida's writings on Husserl in order to determine Derrida's transformation of the basic problem of phenomenology from genesis to language. To do so, he lays out a narrative of the period during which Derrida devoted himself to formulating and interpretation of Husserl, from approximately 1954 to 1967. On the basis of the narrative, certain well known Derridean concepts are determined (in relation primarily to Husserl's phenomenology): deconstruction, the metaphysics of presence, difference (and Derrida's initial concept of dialectic), the trace, and spectrality.What is the nature of the relationship of Jacques Derrida and deconstruction to Edmund Husserl and phenomenology? Is deconstruction a radical departure from phenomenology or does it trace its origins to the phenomenological project? In Derrida and Husserl, Leonard Lawlor illuminates Husserl's influence on the French philosophical tradition which inspired Derrida's thought. Beginning with Eugen Fink's pivotal essay on Husserl's philosophy, Lawlor carefully reconstructs the conceptual context in which Derrida developed his interpretation of Husserl. Lawlor's investigations of the work of Jean Cavaillos, Tran-Duc-Thao, Jean Hyppolite, as well as recent texts by Derrida, reveal the depth of Derrida's relationship to Husserl's phenomenology. Along the way, Lawlor revisits and sheds light on the origin of many important Derridean concepts, such as deconstruction, the metaphysics of presence, difference, intentionality, the trace, and spectrality. Setting the tone and direction for new approaches to Derrida, this groundbreaking work will be essential reading for anyone interested in phenomenology, French philosophy, and the catalysts of Derrida's unique thinking.

Author Biography

Leonard Lawlor is Dunavant Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of Memphis. He is author of Imagination and Chance: The Difference between the Thought of Ricoeur and Derrida and co-editor (with Fred Evans) of Chiasms: Merleau-Ponty's Notion of the Flesh. He is a founding editor of the journal Chiasmi International: Trilingual Studies Concerning the Thought of Merleau-Ponty.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Abbreviations	xi
The Original Motivation: Defend the Derridean Faith	1	(10)
PART ONE: PHENOMENOLOGY AND ONTOLOGY
Genesis as the Basic Problem of Phenomenology	11	(13)
The Critique of Phenomenology: An Investigation of ```Genesis and Structure' and Phenomenology''	24	(10)
The Critique of Ontology: An Investigation of ``The Ends of Man''	34	(13)
PART TWO: THE ``ORIGINARY DIALECTIC'' OF PHENOMENOLOGY AND ONTOLOGY
Upping the Ante on Dialectic: An Investigation of Le Probleme de la genese dans la philosophie de Husserl	47	(41)
The Root, That Is Necessarily One, of Every Dilemma: An Investigation of the Introduction to Husserl's ``The Origin of Geometry''	88	(57)
PART THREE: THE END OF PHENOMENOLOGY AND ONTOLOGY
More Metaphysical than Metaphysics: An Investigation of ``Violence and Metaphysics''	145	(21)
The Test of the Sign: An Investigation of Voice and Phenomenon	166	(45)
PART FOUR: THE TURN IN DERRIDA
Looking for Noon at Two O'Clock: An Investgation of Specters of Marx	211	(15)
The Final Idea: Memory and Life	226	(9)
Notes	235	(32)
Bibliography	267	(16)
Index	283