Read more
Heidegger with Derrida: Being Written attempts, for the first time, to think Heidegger's philosophy through the lens of Derrida's logocentric thesis, according to which speech has, throughout the history of metaphysics, been given primacy over writing. The book offers a detailed account of Derrida's arguments about the debasement of writing, an account that leads to a new definition of writing, conceiving it epistemically, rather than linguistically. Heidegger's analysis of the gaze and critique of the modern subject are shown to have logocentric features. This surprising conclusion entails that Heidegger is well within the metaphysical tradition, which he labored so intently to overcome. The book sheds new light on the philosophical roots of Heidegger's involvement with Nazism, arguing that his hierarchical thinking--the hallmark of logocentrism and metaphysics-condones violent differentiation between the 'proper' race and the Other.
List of contents
Chapter One: Introduction: The question of writing.- Chapter Two: Being proper.- Chapter Three: Representation and its limits.- Chapter Four: The dangers of writing.- Chapter Five: Presence under erasure.- Chapter Six: The politics of writing.- Chapter Seven: Being written.- Chapter Eight: Writing and the politics of race.- Chapter Nine: Derrida's avoidance.- Chapter Ten: Conclusion: The ghost of metaphysics.
About the author
Dror Pimentel teaches at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem. His publications include: The Dream of Purity: Heidegger with Derrida (2009 [Hebrew]); Aesthetics (2014 [Hebrew]), and articles in Iyyun: The Jerusalem Philosophical Quarterly; Heidegger Studies; British Journal of Aesthetics and Phenomenology; Performance Philosophy Journal, among others. He recently translated Heidegger’s "Letter on Humanism” (2018) to Hebrew.
Summary
Heidegger with Derrida: Being Written attempts, for the first time, to think Heidegger's philosophy through the lens of Derrida's logocentric thesis, according to which speech has, throughout the history of metaphysics, been given primacy over writing. The book offers a detailed account of Derrida's arguments about the debasement of writing, an account that leads to a new definition of writing, conceiving it epistemically, rather than linguistically. Heidegger's analysis of the gaze and critique of the modern subject are shown to have logocentric features. This surprising conclusion entails that Heidegger is well within the metaphysical tradition, which he labored so intently to overcome. The book sheds new light on the philosophical roots of Heidegger’s involvement with Nazism, arguing that his hierarchical thinking--the hallmark of logocentrism and metaphysics—condones violent differentiation between the ‘proper’ race and the Other.
