Jacob pointed me to this very entertaining lecture, part of a series, by Wes Cecil who teaches at Peninsula College on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. I listen to this and recall how much I loved the Paralogisms of Pure Reason{{1}} [[1]]See “Mappa Mundi: The Structure of Western Thought“[[1]] section in Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason wherein Kant demonstrated the paradoxical nature of reason (language) which can both prove and disprove the same proposition thus reducing any claim to Correct Thinking or Truth to ashes. This lecture is often very funny while not being entirely sympathetic to its subject. Also a window on American cultural history, history of ideas, Derrida’s reception, etc.
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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGCiqqT9uo8[/youtube]
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Thanks for posting this. It’s one of the best introductions to Derrida I’ve seen.
Keith, Thanks for the comment. I put up these philosophy posts always wondering if anyone notices. And you’re right, a surprisingly quick and accessible and funny introduction. You might want also to look at my essay on the history of Western philosophy “Mappa Mundi: The Structure of Western Thought.”
Excellent, accessible lecture on Derrida. I didn’t know he was a Sephardic Jew from Algeria. Must have complicated his relationship with Paul de Man when the latter’s collaborationist essays came out. Another good source for understanding complex ideas is the Icon series of little books, iconbooks.co.uk. Like the Dummy series, they combine graphics and text, but better. I especially made use of Introducing Semiotics from the series, which includes chaos, critical theory, postmodernism and much more.