There's a Promise Hidden in the Ruins of a Pure Ethics

Abstract

There's a Promise Hidden in the Ruins of a Pure Ethics: Reviewing Anderson's Ethics under Erasure Nicole Anderson, Derrida: Ethics under Erasure (London: Continuum, 2012)What does politics look like when it stands on the shaky grounds of 'ethics under erasure'?Derrida: Ethics under Erasure presents a sustained argument for the import of Jacques Derrida's work for contemporary discussions of ethics, politics, and the everyday. Anderson must be commended for the clear and sophisticated manner in which she enters this discussion. While it is no doubt important to recall that all language brings us back to the funda- mental ambiguity of meaning, Anderson nonetheless is able to convey a strong and succinct argument that would be of great interest to scholars just getting into Derrida as well as experienced Derrideans who may already have a thorough knowledge of the parameters of the debates occurring in the field. Ethics under Erasure is a welcome contribution to ever-growing scholarship centred on the themes of hospitality, the gift, decision and responsibility in Derrida's work. More than this, it is the groundwork for future engagements with ethics and politics, beyond an uncomplicated acceptance of unconditionality. Rather than resting on the assurance of a pure and righteous ethics, Anderson's book brings to the fore the very contestation of the concept of 'ethics' and as such has implications for discussions of hospitality, the gift, and so on. It is a must-read for those interested in the relevance of deconstruction for politics, big and small, global and personal.This book proceeds by introducing the general concerns at stake. Chapter 1, The Ethics of Deconstruction, situates the thematic issues of the book. By taking us back to the significant debates of the 1990s, the so-called 'ethical turn' in Derridean scholarship is critically evaluated. Here, Anderson engages closely with Simon Critchley, a key figure in the ethical turn. Chapter 2 expands Anderson's challenge of Critchley by examining the relationship between Der- rida and Nietzsche. By bringing Nietzsche into the discussion, the emphasis on a Levinasian ethical influence in Derrida is lessened or at least put into dialogue with other voices. Having offered a strong contextualisation, chapter 3 offers an outline of 'ethics under erasure' as an original intervention into Derrida Studies, an engagement with deconstruction which, I think, could contribute to debates regarding how scholars of Derrida think about political action. And finally, chapter 4, Ethical Experience: A Cinematic Example, takes us into the world of Cathy and Sybil, characters in Todd Haynes's Far from Heaven in order to explore the ethics of the everyday.For the remainder of this review I would like to focus on two particular issues Anderson's thesis is useful for: firstly, ethics in the everyday, and secondly, ethics and political in liberal democratic systems. In both instances I am interested in the ramifications of Anderson's thought for the relationship between theory and action, or ethics and politics, and policy and politics. is not intended to provide a strict separation between the everyday and the world of politics, nor between theory and action. Indeed, Anderson is critical of any such division, countering the claims of Derrida's critics: This theory/practice opposition also implies that theory is not 'transformed' and changed by the context or practice (material or otherwise) in which it is discussed or placed, and vice versa (133).Everyday EthicsEthics under Erasure argues for the relevance of philosophical thinking for ev- eryday life. However, rather than contributing to the discussion by introducing another prescriptive ethical formula for adherents to follow, Anderson deploys deconstruction to the field of ethics in order to show us that inheritance produces 'undecidability' [which is] endemic to choice-making and decision-making (105). …