Jacques Derrida (1930 – 2004) was a contemporary French philosopher who had considerable influence on literary theorists and critics, as well as on philosophers.
He is the champion of deconstructionism. This prolific author is often self-describing as a poststructuralist.
Some of his most famous works are:
- Speech and Phenomena and Other Essays on Husserl’s Theory of Signs (1967)
- Of Grammatology (1967 [1976])
- Writing and Difference (1967 [1978])
- Dissemination (1972 [1981])
- The Margins of Philosophy (1972 [1982])
- PostCard (1980)
In the latter book (PostCard), Derrida reveals his propensity to play and (often vehemently condemned by his critics) self-sufficiency.
One central problem with Derrida’s critique and his deconstructivism is the denial of binary oppositions – his desire to show how terms that seem mutually exclusive actually depend on each other.
