Description
Book SynopsisThis volume reflects Jacques Derrida''s engagement in the late 1970s with French political debates on the teaching of philosophy and the reform of the French university system. He was a founding member of the Research Group on the Teaching of Philosophy (Greph), an activist group that mobilized opposition to the Giscard government''s proposals to rationalize the French educational system in 1975, and a convener of the Estates General of Philosophy, a vast gathering in 1979 of educators from across France.
While addressing specific contemporary political issues on occasion, thus providing insight into the pragmatic deployment of deconstructive analysis, the essays deal mainly with much broader concerns. With his typical rigor and spark, Derrida investigates the genealogy of several central concepts which any debate about teaching and the university must confront.
Thus there are essays on the teaching body, both the faculty corps and the strange interplay in the Fre
Trade Review
“This book is of extraordinary importance. It collects one of the most important and underappreciated aspects of Derrida’s work - his investigations into the institutions of philosophical research and teaching - in a definitive and comprehensive volume. These essays are crucial to an understanding of Derrida, and their publication in English is a milestone.”—Thoman Keenan, Bard College
