[lbo-talk] Conversation with Derrida

c b cb31450 at gmail.com
Fri Nov 6 08:20:56 PST 2009


Chris Doss : Were the founding fathers then... Nazis, like Derrida?

^^^^^^^^ CB: I don't know about Derrrida being a Nazi, but a lot of the founding fathers like Washington and Jefferson owned slaves, which is at least as reactionary as fascism. Their fear of democracy that Shane refers to included defending the slave system. They were the beneficiaries of genocidal usurpation of the lands of Indigenous peoples. They were big time white supremecists. So...

Of course , it was 1776, so historical relativity enters in in evaluating their politics.

^^^^ (Am I the only person noticing that James' argument against Derrida/Heidegger/poststructuralists is the same argument that fundamentalists use against atheists, that is, if you deny a transcendent ground for belief, then you must be incapable of making moral distinctions?)

^^^^^ CB: That was a bit difficult to pick up from your posts.

What was the transcendent ground for belief that James was advocating ?

I took his criticisms of Heidegger to be a straightforward Marxist critique, (well he did wax a bit poetic in some of it)



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list