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"For those who don't know, Derrida was a French postmodern intellectual charlatan with absolutely no redeeming qualities." This is a ridiculously inaccurate wa

"For those who don't know, Derrida was a French postmodern intellectual charlatan with absolutely no redeeming qualities." This is a ridiculously inaccurate way to explain Derrida to "those who don't know" him. Derrida is one of the most important continental philosophers of the 20th century.

TheMagicHorsey 12y ago
If important means talking in confusing ways about simple concepts. Noam Chomsky said it best in his essay about Post Modernism: http://vserver1.cscs.lsa.umich.edu/~crshalizi/chomsky-on-postmodernism.html http://vserver1.cscs.lsa.umich.edu/~crshalizi/chomsky-on-pos... This quote contains his criticism very clearly: "As for the "deconstruction" that is carried out (also mentioned in the debate), I can't comment, because most of it seems to me gibberish. But if this is just another sign of my incapacity to recognize profundities, the course to follow is clear: just restate the results to me in plain words that I can understand, and show why they are different from, or better than, what others had been doing long before and and have continued to do since without three-syllable words, incoherent sentences, inflated rhetoric that (to me, at least) is largely meaningless, etc. That will cure my deficiencies --- of course, if they are curable; maybe they aren't, a possibility to which I'll return."
derr342 12y ago
> Derrida is one of the most important continental philosophers of the 20th century. I never stated otherwise. What we both wrote is in no way contradictory.
- MichaelGG 12y ago
  That's not fair. Daniel Dennett and Thomas Metzinger have said interesting things.
  - lambdaphage 12y ago
    Are you suggesting that Dennett is a continental philosopher?
    - MichaelGG 12y ago
      Sorry I skipped over that critical modifier. I agree with the GP then.
  - conatus 12y ago
    Both are analytic philosophers.
- quonn 12y ago
  Continental philosophy is not just postmodernism, which I don't like either. It's also 20th+ century german philosophy which is generally fairly straightforward and also french philosophy until the 60's. And while this kind of philosophy is certainly different from the formal one common in the UK (or maybe US) I would also argue that it is more interesting.

TheMagicHorsey 12y ago

If important means talking in confusing ways about simple concepts. Noam Chomsky said it best in his essay about Post Modernism: http://vserver1.cscs.lsa.umich.edu/~crshalizi/chomsky-on-postmodernism.html http://vserver1.cscs.lsa.umich.edu/~crshalizi/chomsky-on-pos... This quote contains his criticism very clearly: "As for the "deconstruction" that is carried out (also mentioned in the debate), I can't comment, because most of it seems to me gibberish. But if this is just another sign of my incapacity to recognize profundities, the course to follow is clear: just restate the results to me in plain words that I can understand, and show why they are different from, or better than, what others had been doing long before and and have continued to do since without three-syllable words, incoherent sentences, inflated rhetoric that (to me, at least) is largely meaningless, etc. That will cure my deficiencies --- of course, if they are curable; maybe they aren't, a possibility to which I'll return."

derr342 12y ago

> Derrida is one of the most important continental philosophers of the 20th century. I never stated otherwise. What we both wrote is in no way contradictory.

MichaelGG 12y ago
That's not fair. Daniel Dennett and Thomas Metzinger have said interesting things.
- lambdaphage 12y ago
  Are you suggesting that Dennett is a continental philosopher?
  - MichaelGG 12y ago
    Sorry I skipped over that critical modifier. I agree with the GP then.
- conatus 12y ago
  Both are analytic philosophers.
quonn 12y ago
Continental philosophy is not just postmodernism, which I don't like either. It's also 20th+ century german philosophy which is generally fairly straightforward and also french philosophy until the 60's. And while this kind of philosophy is certainly different from the formal one common in the UK (or maybe US) I would also argue that it is more interesting.