AKMA takes issue with Steven Johnson‘s assessment of Derrida, which I had pointed to.

AKMA, who seems disappointed that Steve thinks “the lessons of deconstruction were fundamentally small ones,” writes:

I think one might argue that “deconstruction” was a merely instrumental sidetrack for Derrida, whose greater projects involved explorations of metaphysics, justice, and meaning. He undertook deconstruction as a throat-clearing — then he spoke, ardently and forcefully, on topics which other people wanted to claim that he couldn’t consistently speak.

I never got past the throat-clearing and thus Steve’s assessment rings true to me; the Derrida I tried to read seemed to take throat-clearing as its subject. I couldn’t find any engagement in a matter beyond itself, and it seemed not playful but irritating and smug. (I am not saying I’m right. In fact, I’m pretty much saying I’m wrong.) AKMA recommends Derrida’s Limited Inc. as a good place to start understanding Derrida, so I’ve ordered it from Amazon. AKMA hasn’t led me astray yet. (And is this an appropriate place to again recommend AKMA’s intro to PostModernism?)

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