Jacques Derrida

Known for

Deconstruction, Of Grammatology

Thought

Derrida developed deconstruction, a way of reading texts that exposes how they depend on unstable binary oppositions (such as speech over writing, or presence over absence) which the text itself quietly undermines. He argued meaning is never fixed or fully present in a text but endlessly deferred and reshaped by its relation to everything it is not, unsettling any claim to a single, final, authoritative interpretation.

Biography

French-Algerian philosopher who taught across France and the United States and became, controversially, one of the most cited humanities scholars of his generation.

CSS Philosophy paper topics

Major works

• Of Grammatology