Happy Birthday, Derrida!

Join us today in celebrating the birthday of one of the most famous philosophers of the twentieth century! On July 15, 1930, Jacques Derrida was born in French Algeria. He would grow up to become the father of the deconstruction movement and famed for his work in the fields of poststructuralism and postmodernism.

Derrida was considered subversive and avant-garde. His 1966 lecture at Johns Hopkins University, entitled “Structure, Sign and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences,” was a groundbreaking moment as it challenged the previous assumptions of Western philosophy. Derrida was also a prolific author; he wrote both essays (such as “Différance”) and more than 40 books, including Dissemination and Of Grammatology. The latter contains an essay on Rousseau in which he famously asserts the importance of context, stating “there is nothing outside the text.” Derrida was known for his studies of text and language as a form of revolution as well as a type of paradox that he called “binary oppositions,” in which one term of the opposition is central and the other is marginal. Derrida’s ideas can often be difficult to understand and he certainly has his share of detractors, but it is clear that his work has had a significant impact on the world of philosophy.

Further Reading: Derrida For Beginners