Suchergebnisse

THE TERM "DECONSTRUCTION," ACCORDING TO ONE OF ITS CHAMPIONS, JACQUES DERRIDA, IS MORE THAN MERELY A METHOD FOR INTERPRETING TEXTS; IT IS A MODE OF POLITICAL ACTION AS WELL, THOUGH IT IS NOT "POLITICAL ACTION" AS THAT TERM IS ORDINARILY UNDERSTOOD. THIS ARTICLE EXPLORES DERRIDA'S CLAIM THAT THE DECONSTRUCTION OF TEXTS IS ESSENTIALLY AND EMPHATICALLY A POLITICAL ACT. IT REVIEWS THE RATIONALE FOR DECONSTRUCTION AS A WAY OF READING TEXTS AND SHOWS WHY THIS RATIONALE LEADS DERRIDA TO CLAIM THE DECONSTRUCTION HAS POLITICAL CONSEQUENCES--THAT IT IS A NEW WAY OF CONSTITUTING "THE WORLD." THE AUTHOR GOES ON TO ASSESS WHAT THESE POLITICAL CONSEQUENCES ACTUALLY ARE.

Argues that the connection between Heidegger's politics and philosophy lies in his concept of language, in particular his poetic understanding of Volk. In addition, the fact that the past tense Indo-European root of 'to be' had only been retained in Germanic languages, gave the Germans a separate 'dispensation' of being. (SJK)