The philosophy of Jacque Derrida

It has been a while since I have looked at philosophy, Derrida or deconstruction. So having found that by The School of Life is a refreshing reminder of just how important and still relevant Derrida is.

Most early biographies of Derrida almost alway focus on his philosophy and never talk about his life. I did not know about his marginalisation in Algeria (though I could have guessed). And I did not know he was a football fan as well as an exemplary snooker player.

Three terms were focused upon in this video – deconstruction, aporia, and logocentrism. Deconstruction is the rigorous dismantling of our common sense ideas. Things not privileged (the opposite of the privileged binary) need to be looked at and shown for its equal importance and value. The Greek word Aporia means impasse or puzzlement, a term Derrida revived to describe our need to not be afraid of not knowing or be confused but that this is the true state of things. Postmodern philosophy has embraced this idea and run with it in various guises including fuzzy logic and language games. And logocentrism again is about the privileging of language and clear terms and ideas over inexpressible feelings and emotions which are part of the human experience.

An oldie but a goodie – The Severn Suzuki UN Earth Summit speech

This speech is still a classic. It is by the environmentalist Severn Suzuki. In 1992 when she gave this speech she was twelve years old. Environmentalism runs in her family. Her father is David Suzuki but that should not taken away from her sincere and powerful message. What she said can be plainly seen by all with their own eyes, and heard with their own ears. Her father brought her up to see and hear these things.

And it is a message still relevant today, if not more.

Art and the environment – Emma Lindsay

Artist, Emma Lindsay, is driven to speak up for the environment and our highlight our impact upon it. Watch this space for updates on this very talented artist … who happens to be a good friend.