Topic > Jacques Derrida – The father of deconstruction

In recent French intellectual history Jacques Derrida has been among the most popular, controversial but also well-informed figures. He pioneered a philosophical path he called Deconstruction, which radically changed our understanding of several academic disciplines, especially literary studies. We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayDerrida was born in El Biar, a suburb of Algiers, what was French colonial Algeria, in 1930. He was initially slow at school and harbored aspirations of becoming a professional footballer. Like all other Jewish children, Derrida was unfairly excluded from high school and spent much of his time at home with his mother. He was tremendously affected by the anti-Semitism of the Muslim majority community in Algeria, and was greatly influenced by the experience of being in a weaker position in the hub of three distinct religions: Judaism, Christianity, all of which pretend to speak the reality of the situation that neither of them knew how to treat everyone with specific consideration. Derrida at the age of 19 moved to Paris in 1949, to take up a place at the respectable École Normale Supérieure. He was a brilliant student but was in a strange position. Extremely advantaged in education, but absolutely on the margins in urban France in his social position as an Algerian Jew. Although Derrida was not an autobiographical author, it is difficult not to read his writings as an abstract response to his understanding of bigotry and exclusion. Derrida began to develop the ideas that began his career from the late 1960s onwards. Over time he became an intellectual figure in America and Europe. It was absolutely extraordinary. A good looking guy with a nice choice of haircuts and raincoats. He had a beautiful, varied and complex love life. He was convicted on drug trafficking charges in 1980, but was supported by both the French president and left-wing politicians. He enjoyed playing billiards and spent most of his afternoons at the game, at which he was exceptionally good. He died at the age of 74 in 2004 from pancreatic cancer. Derrida published 40 books, all esoteric and discreet. The most used term associated with Derrida is deconstruction. He used it to explain how he thought, and when others began to use the word he often felt as if they had misinterpreted what he meant by the word. Deconstruction basically means removing our unnecessary allegiance to some notion and trying to see aspects of reality that might be hidden in the opposite. Derrida wrote his first significant book in 1967: 'Of Grammatology'. Derrida was sure that, since Socrates and other Western philosophers consistently preferred speech, which was seen as genuine communication, and not writing, which was perceived as a pure interpretation of what others might say, a second-hand account hand devoid of the commitment and truthfulness that comes from the speech. But Derrida's ultimate goal was to pursue a huge and perplexing project. However, once investigated closely, most of our thoughts are filled with a hoax, unfair and useless, favoring one aspect over another. The word is preferred to the text, logic to feelings, men, for a long time, women, literature to images, vision. beyond touching. Neglected opponents and even some key counterparts deserve love and affection, he insisted. Logic versus skepticism, masculinity and femininity, benefit versus charity, etc. He hoped we could learn to address some of the disagreements.