> Last year I read this book, I think the name is "Deconstructioism
and
> Pragmatism" or something like that where Derrida, Rorty, Laclau and
someone
> else whose name I can't remember have four interactive essays from
their
> respective positions. Rorty, in his typical postmodern-pragmatic
way, says-
> well, all these deconstructive stuff are fine and dandy, they make
good
> gestures of irony etc., but in real life politics they don't have
much
> relevance. This is, of course, a position that Rorty takes in
regard to
> philosophy in general. I don't care for Rorty's liberalism, but I
think he
> made a good point there. Laclau, on the other hand, from his own
> post-Marxist vantage point, came up with an intelligent defense of
> deconstructive politics. Derrida was, well Derrida. I was not sure
what the
> hell he was talking about (and this is from someone who takes
> deconstructionism as a method of reading quite seriously).
>
> A few years ago I read Michael Ryan's *Marxism and
Deconstructionism.* I
> don't remember the specific arguments any more but I remember being
quite
> impressed when I read it. Ryan made an argument for the relevance
of
> deconstructionism for a detotalized Marxist politics. Any thought?
>
> Manjur Karim
===============
Given the fallout from the encounter of Marx[ism] with analytic
philosophy and deconstruction, some on the list might be interested in
this [I perused it real quick at UW the other day]....
http://uk.cambridge.org/philosophy/catalogue/0804737533/default.htm Deconstruction as Analytic Philosophy
Samuel C. Wheeler III
Other titles in Cultural Memory in the Present
Description | Reviews | Contents
Description In this collection of essays Samuel Wheeler discusses Derrida and other deconstructive thinkers from the perspective of an analytic philosopher, treating deconstruction as philosophy, looking for and analyzing its arguments. The essays focus on the theory of meaning, truth, interpretation, metaphor, and the relationship of language to the world. Wheeler links the thought of Derrida to that of Davidson and argues for close affinities among Derrida, Quine, de Man, and Wittgenstein, in that they deny the possibility of meanings as self-interpreting media constituting thoughts and intentions. He also demonstrates the propinquity of Plato and Derrida and shows that New Criticism shares deconstruction's conception of language. Of the twelve essays in the collection, four are published here for the first time.
Reviews 'This is an extraordinarily valuable book that contributes very constructively to the history of Euro-North American philosophy in the twentieth century. Philosophers should not overlook it just because they don't think they are interested in deconstruction. Anyone interested in or influenced by Davidson and Quine ought to read this book, and that includes most American philosophers today.' Joseph Rouse, Wesleyan University
Chapter Contents Introduction; 1. Indeterminacy of French interpretation: Derrida and Davidson; 2. The extension of deconstruction; 3. Truth conditions, rhetoric, and logical form: Davidson and deconstruction; 4. Davidson, Derrida, and Knapp and Michaels on intentions in interpretation; 5. Metaphor according to Davidson and de Man; 6. True figures: metaphor and the Sorites; 7. A Rabbinic philosophy of language; 8. Deconstruction, Cleanth Brooks, and self-reference; 9. A deconstructive Wittgenstein: on Henry Staten's Wittgenstein and Derrida; 10. Wittgenstein as conservative deconstructor; 11. Deconstructed distinctions are OK; 12. Derrida's difference and Plate' s different; Notes; Index.