Jacques Derrida: basic writings

Jacques Derrida is one of the most influential and controversial thinkers of the twentieth century. His ideas on deconstruction have had lasting impact on philosophy, literature and cultural studies. Jacques Derrida: Basic Writings is the first anthology of his most important philosophical writings and provides an indispensable resource for all students and readers of his work. Barry Stocker's clear and helpful introductions set each reading in context, making the volume an ideal companion to those coming to Derrida's writings for the first time. The selections themselves span a range from his most famous works including Speech and Phenomena and Writing and Difference to lesser known discussion on aesthetics, ethics and politics, including selections from: Of Grammatology, Dissemination, Speech and Phenomena, Margins of Philosophy, Writing and Difference, Politics of Friendship, Truth in Painting. Book jacket.

Part I: Metaphysics. Of grammatology : 'Exergue' and 'The end of the book and the beginning of writing' ; Dissemination : 'The pharmakon' -- Part II: Language and meaning. Speech and phenomena : 'Meaning as soliloquy' ; Margins of philosophy : 'Signature event context' -- Part III: Consciousness. Speech and phenomena : 'The supplement of origin' ; Margins of philosophy : 'Form and meaning : a note on the phenomenology of language' -- Part IV: Epistemology. Introduction to origin of geometry ; Writing and difference : 'Structure, sign and play in the discourse of the human sciences' -- Part V: Ethics. 'Hostipitality' ; Politics of friendship : 'Oligarchies : naming, enumerating, counting' -- Part VI: Politics. 'Onto-theology of national-humanism (Prolegomena to a hypothesis)' ; The laws of reflection : Nelson Mandela, in admiration' -- Part VII: Literature and aesthetics. Writing and difference : 'Force and signification' ; Truth in painting : 'Parergon I Lemmata'.