The Literality of Metaphor and the Presence of Question: the Jewish Leit-motif of Jacques Derrida’s Transcendentalism

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22240/sent31.02.134

Keywords:

metaphor, deconstruction, Jewish tradition, aporia, question, différance

Abstract

The article is devoted to the historical-philosophical analysis of the problem of ambivalence as a fundamental principle of Derrida’s philosophical thinking. It shows how such primordial philosophical questions as ones of limits of philosophies and of limits of philosophy define the basic problem dimensions of Derridean conception. It consideres the correlation of the theme of marginality with both the problem of Derrida’s cultural self-identification and the idea of the metaphoricity of language as the initial premise of différance logic. Also the article examines the role of transcendentalistic implications in Derridean thought that determine a his-torical and philosophical context of Derrida’s philosophy. The analogy between quasi-transcendental and metaphorical aspects of deconstructive thinking is drawn. The identifica-tion of Jewish and metaphorical in Derrida’s conception is demonstrated. The author introduces the concept of "literal metaphor" as the quintessence of Derrida’s philosophical thought which structures its basic forms, namely: aporia, hyperbole, question, commentary.

Author Biography

Anna Ilyina, Hr. Skovoroda Institute of Philosophy, NAS Ukraine (Kyiv)

PhD in Art Criticism, Junior research fellow of the Department of the History of Foreign Philosophy

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Published

2014-12-16

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Ilyina, A. (2014). The Literality of Metaphor and the Presence of Question: the Jewish Leit-motif of Jacques Derrida’s Transcendentalism. Sententiae, 31(2), 134–156. https://doi.org/10.22240/sent31.02.134

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