An Event, Perhaps: A Biography of Jacques Derrida

286 Pages·2020·3.947 MB·English

by  Peter Salmon

An Event, Perhaps
An Event, Perhaps
A Biography of
Jacques Derrida
Peter Salmon
First published by Verso 2020
© Peter Salmon 2020
All rights reserved
The moral rights of the author have been asserted
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Verso
UK: 6 Meard Street, London W1F 0EG
US: 20 Jay Street, Suite 1010, Brooklyn, NY 11201
versobooks.com
Verso is the imprint of New Left Books
ISBN-13: 978-1-78873-280-2
ISBN-13: 978-1-78873-283-3 (US EBK)
ISBN-13: 978-1-78873-282-6 (UK EBK)
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Salmon, Peter, 1955– author.
Title: An event, perhaps : a biography of Jacques Derrida / Peter Salmon.
Description: London ; New York : Verso, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Summary: “An introduction to the life and work of the philosopher Jacques Derrida”— Provided
by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020021106 (print) | LCCN 2020021107 (ebook) | ISBN 9781788732802 | ISBN
9781788732833 (US ebk)
Subjects: LCSH: Derrida, Jacques.
Classification: LCC B2430.D484 S275 2020 (print) | LCC B2430.D484 (ebook) | DDC 194 [B]—
dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020021106
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020021107
Typeset in Sabon by MJ & N Gavan, Truro, Cornwall
Printed in the UK by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon CR0 4YY
To Fiona
I have sometimes been troubled by a doubt whether what is true in
one case may not be true in all. Then, when I have reached that
point, I am driven to retreat, for fear of tumbling into a bottomless
pit of nonsense.
– Socrates (Plato, Parmenides)
I’d never say this in public – I still love beautiful books and
believe in them.
– Jacques Derrida
Contents
Introduction
1. The Kid
2. Husserl et al.
3. Problems of Origin
4. Jacques Derrida
5. An Event, Perhaps
6. Of Grammatology
7. Supposing That Truth Is a Woman – What Then?
8. Here Comes Everybody
9. Before the Law
10. Of God
11. An Event Has Occurred
Acknowledgements
Notes
Index