Deconstruction of the Notion of Logos and Logocentric Language in Texts by Jacques Derrida
Deconstruction of the Notion of Logos and Logocentric Language in Texts by Jacques Derrida

Author(s): Paulina Kłos
Subject(s): Semiology, Rhetoric
Published by: Universitatea Petrol-Gaze din Ploieşti
Keywords: supplementarity; logos; logocentric language; Jacques Derrida;
Summary/Abstract: The construction of logos in Derrida’s writings is expressed and effaced at the same time. It is totally in agreement with the main assumption of Derrida’s philosophy, i.e. that the characteristic of human being does not confine itself only to the clarity of reasoning but is best explained in terms of the supplement. The classical metaphysical concepts like identity, presence, sameness (which all derive its origin from the Platonian logos) are by Derrida deconstructed with the help of this notion: “the indefinite process of supplementarity has always already infiltrated presence, always already inscribed there the space of repetition and the splitting of the self.” Supplement as the relation to its other is the condition of self-consciousness, but at the same time its constant transgression beyond this what is given is the reason for the dissolution of the stable identity. In the long run this process results in the complete expropriation of the subject, because “[a]uto-affection constitutes the same (auto) as it divides the same.” This consequence of Derridian inquiry is the reason why we cannot entirely give ourselves to the defiant project of deconstruction – we still need some stable, operational language based on logos so that the language expressions can be meaningful and not dissolve in disintegration. Consequently, encouraged by Derrida to follow the path of “dangerous supplement” in finding solely human components of culture, we can say “yes” to it, but only when treating it as a regulative idea for a more logocentric struggle. In my paper I would like to indicate how logos inaugurated the metaphysical tradition in philosophy, how logocentric oppositions culminated in the writings of Husserl, had their twilight in the thought of Nietzsche and were finally deconstructed by Derrida.

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