Jacques Derrida

Jacques Derrida
Born	Jackie Élie Derrida (1930-07-15)15 July 1930 El Biar, French Algeria
Died	9 October 2004(2004-10-09) (aged 74) Paris, France
Education	École normale supérieure (BA, MA, Dr. cand.) Harvard University University of Paris (DrE)
Spouse	Marguerite Aucouturier ​ ​ (m. 1957)​
Children	3, including Pierre Alféri
Era	20th-century philosophy
Region	Western philosophy
School	Continental philosophy Post-structuralism (disavowed) Deconstruction Radical hermeneutics[1]
Institutions	University of Paris École Normale Supérieure École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales Collège international de philosophie European Graduate School University of California, Irvine
Notable students	Jean-Luc Marion[2] Francis Fukuyama[3]
Notable ideas	Deconstruction différance phallogocentrism free play arche-writing metaphysics of presence invagination pharmakon trace hauntology sous rature khôra Citationality

Jacques Derrida (/ˈdɛrɪdə/; French: [ʒak dɛʁida]; born Jackie Élie Derrida;^[6] 15 July 1930 – 9 October 2004) was a French philosopher. He developed the philosophy of deconstruction, which he utilized in a number of his texts, and which was developed through close readings of the linguistics of Ferdinand de Saussure and Husserlian and Heideggerian phenomenology.^[7][8][9] He is one of the major figures associated with post-structuralism and postmodern philosophy^[10][11][12] although he distanced himself from post-structuralism and disowned the word "postmodernity".^[13]

During his career, Derrida published over 40 books, together with hundreds of essays and public presentations. He had a significant influence on the humanities and social sciences, including philosophy, literature, law,^[14][15][16] anthropology,^[17] historiography,^[18] applied linguistics,^[19] sociolinguistics,^[20] psychoanalysis,^[21] music, architecture, and political theory.

Into the 2000s, his work retained major academic influence throughout the United States,^[22] continental Europe, South America and all other countries where continental philosophy has been predominant, particularly in debates around ontology, epistemology (especially concerning social sciences), ethics, aesthetics, hermeneutics, and the philosophy of language. In most of the Anglosphere, where analytic philosophy is dominant, Derrida's influence is most presently felt in literary studies due to his longstanding interest in language and his association with prominent literary critics from his time at Yale. He also influenced architecture (in the form of deconstructivism), music^[23] (especially in the musical atmosphere of hauntology), art,^[24] and art criticism.^[25]

Particularly in his later writings, Derrida addressed ethical and political themes in his work. Some critics consider Speech and Phenomena (1967) to be his most important work. Others cite: Of Grammatology (1967) Writing and Difference (1967), and Margins of Philosophy (1972). These writings influenced various activists and political movements.^[26] He became a well-known and influential public figure, while his approach to philosophy and the notorious abstruseness of his work made him controversial.^[26][27]