Yes, undoubtedly. *Of Grammatology*, from the first to the last page.
On Wed, Mar 26, 2008 at 4:03 AM, Nathan Hondros <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Should I bother reading Derrida? If so, which book (or which book about
> his
> ideas)? My gut feeling is that I'm better off reading a good novel, but
> I'm
> open to persuasion.....
>
> On Tue, Mar 25, 2008 at 11:28 PM, Douglas Barbour <
> [log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
> > A short while later, along came Derrida!
> >
> > Doug
> > On 24-Mar-08, at 4:29 PM, David Bircumshaw wrote:
> >
> > > Mind you, Nathan, there's a long tradition, in writing, of writers
> > > questioning the worth of writing (and reading!) It goes back far,
> > > recall the
> > > Phaedrus, where Plato has Socrates tell:
> > >
> > > "But when they came to letters, This, said Theuth, will make the
> > > Egyptians
> > > wiser and give them better memories; it is a specific both for the
> > > memory
> > > and for the wit. Thamus replied: O most ingenious Theuth, the parent
> > > or
> > > inventor of an art is not always the best judge of the utility or
> > > inutility
> > > of his own inventions to the users of them. And in this instance,
> > > you who
> > > are the father of letters, from a paternal love of your own children
> > > have
> > > been led to attribute to them a quality which they cannot have; for
> > > this
> > > discovery of yours will create forgetfulness in the learners' souls,
> > > because
> > > they will not use their memories; they will trust to the external
> > > written
> > > characters and not remember of themselves. The specific which you have
> > > discovered is an aid not to memory, but to reminiscence, and you
> > > give your
> > > disciples not truth, but only the semblance of truth; they will be
> > > hearers
> > > of many things and will have learned nothing; they will appear to be
> > > omniscient and will generally know nothing; they will be tiresome
> > > company,
> > > having the show of wisdom without the reality."
> >
> > Douglas Barbour
> > [log in to unmask]
> >
> > http://www.ualberta.ca/~dbarbour/ <http://www.ualberta.ca/%7Edbarbour/>
> >
> > Latest books:
> > Continuations (with Sheila E Murphy)
> > http://www.uap.ualberta.ca/UAP.asp?LID=41&bookID=664
> > Wednesdays'
> >
> >
> http://abovegroundpress.blogspot.com/2008/03/new-from-aboveground-press_10.html
> >
> > to rid me of
> > the ugh in
> > thought
> > i spell anew
> > weave the world
> > out of the or
> > binary
> >
> > bpNichol
> >
>
--
Anny Ballardini
http://annyballardini.blogspot.com/
http://www.fieralingue.it/modules.php?name=poetshome
http://www.moriapoetry.com/ebooks.html
I Tell You: One must still have chaos in one to give birth to a dancing
star!
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