Description
Book SynopsisDeconstruction is no game of mirrors, revealing the text as a play of surface against surface. Its more radical philosophical effort is to get behind the mirror and question the very nature of reflection.
The Tain of the Mirror explores that gritty surface without which no reflection would be possible.
Trade ReviewA formidable book… [A] splendidly full and orderly synthesis of Derrida’s thought, which makes a meticulous case for him as a philosopher of real substance, given the radical nature of his investigations in the philosophies of language and of meaning. -- John Sturrock * London Review of Books *
A challenging book… It is beautifully organized and clear throughout, and will repay extensive study. Gasché’s success in situating Derrida in relation to the philosophical tradition is such that it should make Derrida’s thought unavoidable (
incontournable, Derrida might say) for anyone concerned, today, with the history of philosophy. -- Christopher Fynsk * Review of Metaphysics *
A brilliant book that holds more for students of philosophy or literature than any other single work on Derrida. -- J. W. McInnes * Choice *
Undoubtedly the most fully articulated exposition of Derrida’s deconstructive approach to philosophy available in any language… It will figure at the center of polemics for years to come. -- Wlad Godzich, Université de Montréal
Table of ContentsIntroduction PART 1: TOWARD THE LIMITS OF REFLECTION 1. Defining Reflection 2. The Philosophy of Reflection 3. The Self-Destruction of Reflection Isolated Reflection Philosophical Reflection Speculative or Absolute Reflection 4. Identity, Totality, and Mystic Rapture 5. Post-Hegelian Criticism of Reflexivity 6. Beyond Reflection: The Interlacings of Heterology PART 2: ON DECONSTRUCTION 7. Abbau, Destruktion, Deconstruction 8. Deconstructive Methodology The Propaedeutics of Deconstruction Against Neutrality Infrastructural Accounting The Marginal Inscription of the Ground The Bipartite Operation of Deconstruction 9. A System beyond Being The Infrastructural Chain The General Theory of Doubling The General System PART 3: LITERATURE OR PHILOSOPHY? 10. Literature in Parentheses 11. The Inscription of Universality Writing Text Metaphor Notes Bibliography Index
