"here is a difference... between difference as
in the difference between terms in a system of
hierarchical oppositions and
difference as in the difference between one term and
the next in a series or
network of terms."
But for Derrida all meaning is fired by differance,
and differance cannot exist except between
oppositions. Since these oppositions are arbitrary -
ie do not correspond with/cannot be tested against an
extra-linguistic reality - they are held to be
oppressive. So if you are arguing that the difference
between our two differences is that the production of
one does not involve the intervention of 'hierachical
oppositions' then I think you are wrong. That's if
Uncle Jacques is setting the rules. I prefer to play
pool.
Cheers
Scott Hamilton
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Subject: Differance with an "a"
From: "domfox" <[log in to unmask]>
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There is a difference - you can decide for yourself
whether it makes all the
difference, I am only insisting on the differences -
between difference as
in the difference between terms in a system of
hierarchical oppositions and
difference as in the difference between one term and
the next in a series or
network of terms.
That is, there's a difference between the difference
between red and green
and the difference between black and white.
Possibly this distinction is lost in an egalitarian
rhetoric that moves too
quickly to establish identities at the cost of a
reduction of difference;
although I think this is more often a reactionary
reading of egalitarian
politics, one which introduces the confusion between
hierarchical
subordination and plain human diversity for its own
purposes ("damned
emancipationists want to make us all the *same*! Can't
they see that having
slave-owners *and* slaves is part of life's rich
tapestry?"). All the same,
I can't pretend that egalitarians don't sometimes make
this mistake all by
themselves. It's why I want Dworkin *and* Derrida. I
still think they can
learn from each other.
- Dom
=====
"Why is it not possible for me to doubt that I have never been on the moon? And how
could I try to doubt it? First and foremost, the supposition that perhaps I have
been there would strike me as idle. Nothing would follow from it, nothing be
explained by it. It would not tie in with anything in my life... Philosophical
problems occur when language goes on holiday. We must not separate ideas from life,
we must not be misled by the appearances of sentences: we must investigate the
application of words in individual language-games" - Ludwig Wittgenstein
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