Derrida’s Open and Its Closure: The Aporia of Différance and the Only Logic of Thinking
Mengxue Wu
Publication: Volume 2 Issue 1
Abstract
Derrida’s thought on “trace,” “différance,” “writing,” and “supplement” is always thought to be the breaking of logocentrism, the essence, the positive meaning, and the closure of the metaphysics of presence; this thinking is accordingly regarded the thinking with the fundamental structure of difference and openness. By tracking back to Saussure, Husserl, and Levinas this fundamental difference breaks the myth of ideal meaning as well as the illusion of the absolute open; its lack of ideality and absoluteness contains the fundamental difference within itself and thus has the structure of open. However, from a broader perspective, this paper re-asks the question “Whether or not Derrida’s ‘trace,’ ‘différance,’ ‘writing,’ and ‘supplement’ have a structure of open.” When the web of differences encompasses everything, even its own “exit,” this “open” thus conceals and denies other modes of thinking. With the impossibility of going out of this mode of thinking, the structure of différance is closed.
Keywords: Open, Difference, Différance, Jacques Derrida, Edmund Husserl, Emmanuel Levinas, Exit
Mengxue Wu (mengxuewu9@gmail.com) earned an MA in Comparative Literature at The State University of New York, Buffalo, USA. Her recent research focuses on Edmund Husserl, Emmanuel Levinas, Martin Heidegger, Jacques Derrida, and other twentieth century thinkers. Her areas of specialization are contemporary continental philosophy, literary theory, and Western-Eastern comparative philosophy.