Confirms the importance of literature in Derrida’s development of a postmodern ethics.

Derrida and the Future of the Liberal Arts highlights the Derridean assertion that the university must exist 'without condition' - as a bastion of intellectual freedom and oppositional activity whose job it is to question mainstream society. Derrida argued that only if the life of the mind is kept free from excessive corporate influence and political control can we be certain that the basic tenets of democracy are being respected within the very societies that claim to defend democratic principles. This collection contains eleven essays drawn from international scholars working in both the humanities and social sciences, and makes a well-grounded and comprehensive case for the importance of Derridean thought within the liberal arts today. Written by specialists in the fields of philosophy, literature, history, sociology, geography, political science, animal studies, and gender studies, each essay traces deconstruction's contribution to their discipline, explaining how it helps keep alive the 'unconditional', contrapuntal mission of the university. The book offers a forceful and persuasive corrective to the current assault on the liberal arts.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 619-646) and index.

This book reflects on the post-war Western university and its discourses charting the crisis of the concept of the modern university.

Written by Jacques Derrida‘s leading English-language translator and collaborator, this invigorating and intelligent volume displays the continuing power and versatility of deconstruction, presenting it as the most important intellectual movement of our time. Geoffrey Bennington develops a devastating critique of many attempts to clarify or criticize deconstructive thought, and elaborates its potential through original readings of, amongst others, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel, Freud, De Man and Lyotard. While he is principally concerned with a defence of deconstruction in fields where it has long since demonstrated its critical prowess, Bennington also emphasizes its political dimension. Deconstruction is a political thinking, he argues, because it entails an irreducible opening to alterity (if only in the form of reading); and this opening, where the other always might arrive as an event on the frontier of my experience, is a place for legislation.

First Published in 2005. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

A new edition of one of the market leading texts for those interested in critical theory and its effect on our reading of the English literary canon. Renowned for its accessible, witty style, the new edition is updated throughout and contains four new chapters to reflect the continuing development of the subject. * The key elements of this book that make it so popular are its clear, highly accessible articulation of ideas, the wide range of texts used as illustrative examples, and its witty, humourous style. * Number 1 textbook on our Literature list. * Literary Theory & Criticism is the only major, core course in English departments - every Literature student will study it. * A new chapter on Creative Writing - currently the biggest 'growth area' in the Humanities in the UK.