Abstract
This article deals with Jacques Derrida’s critique of the phenomenological concepts of spirituality and spirit, particularly in the context of his 1987 book Of Spirit. As the article shows, Derrida’s interpretation of these concepts was based on a seemingly minor, yet extremely important misreading of Edmund Husserl’s key passages on the relationship between spirituality and Europe. Unlike Derrida claims, Husserl did not equate Europe with the universal teleology of humankind. Instead, what the concept of spirituality opened up was a new way of understanding transcendental modes of experience as embedded in a particular historical situation of a particular community. Philosophy, understood as a “spiritual” phenomenon, denoted for Husserl a fundamentally intersubjective and intergenerational phenomenon that is by no means separate from empirical history.
Highlights
Derrida claims, Husserl did not equate Europe with the universal teleology of humankind
As Derrida argued, it was with the help of the concepts of “spirituality” or “spirit”, which Heidegger employed from his 1933 Rectoral
To fully understand Derrida’s point, we need to take a closer look at those motivations that led Husserl to understand the problem of culture, and that of Europe, in terms of spirit
Summary
Derrida’s criticism of Husserl’s Eurocentrism appeared in several of his works. Its earliest expression, is to be found in the 1954 dissertation The Problem of Genesis in Husserl’s Philosophy, one of the earliest appreciations of the topics of temporality and genesis in Husserl’s works. In Derrida’s view, Husserl’s insistence on discovering the ideal genesis or “transcendental teleology” was founded on a premise of purity and universality far too ambitious for the kind of experience that the analysis of temporality had revealed If this original process of temporalization was always already mine, always bound to a particular subject and its genesis (with a particular historical situation, etc.), how could Husserl insist on locating a purely transcendental level of investigation within genetic phenomenology? After this turn towards the genetic method, Husserl could no longer hold on to the purely transcendental or ideal character of phenomenology and its basic concepts; rather, the domain of transcendental was “contaminated” (contaminé) by empirical factors This insight, became a central starting point for Derrida’s later works; most importantly, Voice and Phenomenon (Derrida 2011). To fully understand Derrida’s point, we need to take a closer look at those motivations that led Husserl to understand the problem of culture, and that of Europe, in terms of spirit
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
