Annotation
WINTER 2020
Charles University
Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies
(MA Module)
Daniele De Santis, Ph. D.
Office hours: Thursday 10:00-11:00 (in case you want to do it on-line, just send me an email)
Email: daniele.desantis@ff.cuni.cz
Jacques Derrida: Phenomenology, Ontology, Grammatology
(Wednesday 10:50-12:25)
Room: 218 1. General Description and Aims of the Module
The module aims at discussing the phenomenological roots of the philosophy of the early Derrida, with a special focus on his writings on phenomenology from 1962 to 1967. The main objective is to study the development of Derrida’s position vis-à-vis the notions of phenomenology, ontology and metaphysics, and how the very concept of “difference” changes as he moves away from his first assessment of the relation between phenomenology and ontology in Husserl. In particular, three volumes will be at the center of our attention: the Introduction of 1926 to a short Husserlian text known as The Origin of Geometry; the anthology of essays published in Writing and Difference (notably, the text on Artaud and Levinas), as well as the famous book Of Grammatology, where the idea of a “metaphysics of presence” is systematically discussed. As we will show, the famous and untranslatable term différance, which Derrida introduces for the first time in 1965, is originally understood as an attempt the Heideggerian ontological difference.
Methodologically, the module will try to rely on the different versions of Derrida’s texts in order to better highlight the development of his thought, especially in the years 1965-1967.
N.B.: Given Derrida's mode of philosophizing (which consists in systematically commenting on other texts and philosophers), a minimal knowledge of Husserl and phenomenology is desirable, yet not mandatory.
Course Outline
Part 1
(Week 1-Week 2)
Readings from:
The Problem of Genesis in Husserl’s Philosophy
Introduction to the Origin of Geometry
Part 2
(Week 3-Week 6)
Readings from:
Writing and Difference
Part 3
(Week 7-Week 9)
Readings from:
Of Grammatology
Recapitulation
(Week 10)