The instant of his death

October 11, 2004

The death of Derrida will most likely bring all manner of silly comments about his own deconstruction, etc, etc. However, there has always been a serious consideration of death in Derrida's work, from contemplating Abraham's obedience to God in being willing to sacrifice Isaac, to the classic Wittgensteinian observation that it is impossible to experience your own death. It is causing me to reflect on how meaningFUL death is, how it helps people to focus their minds, how it removes distractions, and how it often (counter-intuitively) generates hope. My philosophy class prayed for him just a week earlier, at the end of a lecture, wanting God to come to him, to bring the kind of justice and mercy that he himself imagined. And more.


Send CASE an email

Leave a comment

Comments will be approved before showing up.

Name *

Email *

Comment *

---

Also in And Just in CASE