Conclusion
Derrida's Husserl thinks of meaning as self-presence and of self-presence as transparent and complete presence of meaning to the mind. Expression and thought are but particular modes or media of the more englobing relation of a self-acquainted life. Reflection is the highest form and telos of the other forms of presence.
In contrast, the — by no means complete — Husserl who has begun to appear in my interpretation does not unconditionally subscribe to the value of presence. Not only is an important part of intentional life directed towards objects which it does not possess in their plenitude — hence its emptiness —, this part of intentional life is also blind towards itself. Reflection tries to fill this gap by grasping what is not present to a life immersed in its world. But a retreat from life is the price of presence, a presence, in addition, whose power is essentially limited by the fluidity of its material and by the limits of its bearers.
And yet Husserl maintains, passionately maintains, the claim and value of reflection and of a scientific attitude which Derrida rejects with equal passion. May they not have a positive function in a frame which is no longer that of presence metaphysics? As deconstruction has evolved its philosophy of anti-presence, it has brushed away the reflexive potential of Phenomenology and chosen to reject ‘its own origin”.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arnauld, A. and C. Lancelot: 1969 (1660), Grammaire Générale et Raisonnée, ed. and introduced by Michel Foucault, Paris.
Derrida, J.: 1962, Introduction à E. Husserl: L'Origine de la Géometrie, trad. J. Derrida, Paris. (Quoted ‘OG’)
Derrida, J.: 1966, La phénoménologie et la clôture de la metaphysique, Epoches, Athens.
Derrida, J.: 1967a, La voix et le phénomène, Paris. (Quoted ‘VP’)
Derrida, J.: 1973, Speech and Phenomena, (English translation of VPh), Evanston.
Derrida, J.: 1967b, La forme et le vouloir-dire. Note sur la phénoménologie du langage. Revue Internationale de Philosophie LXXXI, Quoted ‘FVD’.
Derrida, J.: 1973, Form and Meaning: A Note on the Phenomenology of Language. (Engl. translation of ‘La forme et le vouloirdire’, printed in Speech and Phenomena.)
Foucault, M.: 1966, Les mots et les choses, Paris.
Husserl, E.: 1968 (1900), Logische Untersuchungen, Zweiter Band. Untersuchungen zur Phaenomenologie und Theorie der Erkenntnis, I. Teil. Logische Untersuchungen I–V, Fünfte Auflage, Tübingen.
Husserl, E.: 1922 (1900), Logische Untersuchungen, Zweiter Band. Elemente einer phänomenologischen Aufklärung der Erkenntnis, II. Teil. Logische Untersuchung VI, Dritte Auflage, Halle.
Husserl, E.: 1970 (1900), Logical Investigations, revised ed., translated by J. N. Findlay, quoted as ‘LI’; New York.
Husserl, E.: 1950 (l913), Ideen zu einer reinen Phänomenologie und phänomenologischen Philosophie, Erstes Buch; (quoted as ‘Ideen I’); Husserliana, Band II, Den Haag.
Husserl, E.: 1972, Ideas: General Introduction to Pure Phenomenology, transl. W. R. Boyce Gibson New York.
Kleist, Heinrich v.: 1964, Über die allmähliche Verfertigung der Gedanken beim Reden, in dtv Gesamtausgabe, Band 5, München.
Parpan, R.: 1984, Zeichen und Bedeutung, Unpublished Philosophical Dissertation, University of Heidelberg.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Schwab, M. The rejection of origin: Derrida's interpretation of Husserl. Topoi 5, 163–175 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00139230
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00139230