Monday 11 October 2004

The instant of his death

The death of Derrida will most likely bring all manner of silly comments about his own deconstruction, etc, etc. However, there has always been a serious consideration of death in Derrida's work, from contemplating Abraham's obedience to God in being willing to sacrifice Isaac, to the classic Wittgensteinian observation that it is impossible to experience your own death. It is causing me to reflect on how meaningFUL death is, how it helps people to focus their minds, how it removes distractions, and how it often (counter-intuitively) generates hope. My philosophy class prayed for him just a week earlier, at the end of a lecture, wanting God to come to him, to bring the kind of justice and mercy that he himself imagined. And more.


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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I kind of like the idea of having a prayer night to pray for famous people. Ben has been praying for Pearl Jam and I regularly pray for Neil Gaiman.

/Karen/

Anonymous said...

The thing with Derrida is that in some things he seemed so close to the truth, and to desire what the gospel could provide. But other times, so far away...

It leaves you contemplating your own death, of course, and the blessing of predestination.

Drew