Derrida obit

Long piece in the NY Times; the leadoff:

Jacques Derrida, the Algerian-born, French intellectual who became one of the most celebrated and unfathomable philosophers of the late 20th century, died Friday at a Paris hospital, the French president's office announced. He was 74 .

The cause of his death was pancreatic cancer, according to French television, the Associated Press reported.

Mr. Derrida was known as the father of deconstruction, the method of inquiry that asserted that all writing was full of confusion and contradiction, and that the author's intent could not overcome the inherent contradictions of language itself, robbing texts - whether literature, history or philosophy - of truthfulness, absolute meaning and permanence. The concept was eventually applied to the whole gamut of arts and social sciences, including linguistics, anthropology, political science, even architecture.

Interesting that his death merited a presidential announcement. France does love its philosophers.

My wife, on the other hand, when told Derrida was dead, shot back, "that's how you read it."

Posted by David on October 9, 2004 6:41 PM