Month: December 2025

Jacques Derrida and Passions

|

I’ve been thinking about Jacques Derrida and deconstruction in previous posts, so I’d like to contrast Derrida with Heidegger briefly “In order to understand, Heidegger says, one must see phenomenologically. He thus invites us to the first exercise of phenomenological “kindergarten.” To tear apart [zer-reissen] means: to tear into two parts, to separate: to make … Jacques Derrida and Passions

Jacques Derrida and the Philosophy of Death: Conclusion of The Gift of Death chapter 3-4 with Heidegger, Derrida

|

Heidegger talks about the passivity and receptivity of essential thinking, not something the result of your effort.  In German this is “Es Gibt,” “there is” or literally “it gives.”  For example, you might try in futility for hours to solve a problem when suddenly “it comes to you.”  Derrida’s analysis in “The Gift of Death” … Jacques Derrida and the Philosophy of Death: Conclusion of The Gift of Death chapter 3-4 with Heidegger, Derrida

End of Year Post. Announcing My Fourth and Final Essay on the Historical Paul and Prof Nina Livesey

|

One of the striking things about Paul’s letters is they sound like Papal missives or decrees. Paul was a self-made man from Tarsus and a self-proclaimed apostle. But his long and weighty letters make him sound like a Roman provincial administrator. In fact, the letters themselves depict Paul as such an administrator who makes the … End of Year Post. Announcing My Fourth and Final Essay on the Historical Paul and Prof Nina Livesey

Jacques Derrida and the Philosophy of Death: The Gift of Death chapter 2(b) with Heidegger, Derrida, and Artificial Intelligence

|

Heidegger notes in the history of philosophy as metaphysics from Plato to Nietzsche the central “world” or context the questions are being interrogated in are that of Being, which made scientific reasoning possible. The Greek word for Being, ousia, which first became a technical term in Aristotle originally meant estate, the general sphere or network … Jacques Derrida and the Philosophy of Death: The Gift of Death chapter 2(b) with Heidegger, Derrida, and Artificial Intelligence

Jacques Derrida and the Philosophy of Death: The Gift of Death chapter 2(a) with Heidegger, Derrida, and Artificial Intelligence

|

What I would like to do below is read some key passages from the beginning of chapter two and then illuminate them with some thoughts on Heidegger, Derrida, and AI.  Derrida says: What we are here calling the apprehension of death refers as much to the concern, anxious solicitude, care taken for the soul (epimeleia … Jacques Derrida and the Philosophy of Death: The Gift of Death chapter 2(a) with Heidegger, Derrida, and Artificial Intelligence

Jacques Derrida and the Philosophy of Death: The Gift of Death chapter 1

|

Previous Post New Blog Post Series: Jacques Derrida and the Philosophy of Death One of the great mysteries of philosophy’s contact with religion and death since Kierkegaard is the story of Abraham being told by God to sacrifice his son Isaac. There are 2 major issues here. On the one hand God has promised Abraham … Jacques Derrida and the Philosophy of Death: The Gift of Death chapter 1

New Blog Post Series: Jacques Derrida and the Philosophy of Death

|

In the last series I talked in good Heideggerian fashion about how our stance/being toward death is going to establish the way in which the human condition unfolds for us. For example, I summarized that: Death is such a wonderful topic in Philosophy, like in Plato’s dialogues or Heidegger’s Being and Time.  Of course, most … New Blog Post Series: Jacques Derrida and the Philosophy of Death