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I can barely tolerate Foucault. And I've tried Derrida but I've always wind up giving up since he just makes no sense to me. Then there's Zizek. That's one pers

• pmoriarty 10y ago
  It doesn't make sense to you probably because you haven't had enough education in philosophy. The thing is that philosophy rarely happens in a vacuum. Usually philosophers build on and respond to the ideas of other philosophers. So to really understand and see where they're coming from, you have to understand their predecessors and the dialogue which has been going on for thousands of years. To understand the trickier philosophers like Derrida or some other Continentals, you're probably also going to need the help of a talented teacher who understands these philosophers themselves -- someone you're unlikely to find in Analytic philosophy departments where contempt for Continentals reigns. At best, you're going to get a strongly distorted view of Derrida as Analytics see him. That will not do justice to his thought. That said, I'm not a fan of Derrida myself. I much prefer Nietzsche and Heidegger. Foucault's cool too, though, for his attempts to address power, punishment, mental illness and marginalized portions of society -- all subjects that other philosophers ever touch. I should read more of him.