Browsing by Author "De Ville, Jacques"
Now showing 1 - 18 of 18
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Animal, Subject, Constitution. Mosaic: an interdisciplinary critical journal(Johns Hopkins University, 2021) De Ville, JacquesSubjectivity and a civil constitution, according to Kant, are both made possible by a certain power or ability, which the human being has in comparison with animals. This essay examines Derrida's reading of Kant's Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View, and explores its implications for constitutional democracy.Item Book Review: Judith Still, Derrida and Hospitality: theory and practice(Edinburgh University Press, 2013) De Ville, JacquesA book review of Judith Still, Derrida and Hospitality: theory and practice, (Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, 2010), 294 pp. ISBN 978-0-7486-4027-0Item Deconstructing the Leviathan: Derrida’s The Beast and the Sovereign(Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI), 2012) De Ville, JacquesDerrida’s The Beast & the Sovereign volume I, explores the contradictory appearance of animals in political discourse. Sometimes, as he points out, political man and the sovereign state appear in the form of an animal, and at other times, as superior to animals, which he is the master of. In session two of the Seminar, the main focus of this essay, Derrida explores the ‘origin’ of this contradictory logic inter alia with reference to animal fables, which he contends draw on unconscious forces in their invocation of images. They pretend to make known something that cannot be the object of knowledge. In the same vein Derrida shows how Hobbes’s Leviathan, and sovereignty itself, are constructed and maintained through an uncanny fear, a fear not in the first place of one’s fellow man, but of the wolf within the self, that is, the drive to self-destruction. It is the repression of this wolf, Derrida suggests, which leads to the further contradictory logic (in Hobbes) of excluding both beast and God from the covenant, whilst maintaining God as the model of sovereignty. God, in other words, ‘is’ the beast repressed, and can therefore hardly serve as foundation of sovereignty. The self, and ultimately sovereignty, it can be said in view of Derrida’s analysis, is never purely present to itself, but instead arrives at itself by way of the ‘binding’ of unconscious forces. Sovereignty in this way ultimately shows itself to be divisible.Item Deconstruction and law: Derrida, Levinas and Cornell(University of Windsor, 2007) De Ville, JacquesDrucilla Cornell’s book The Philosophy of the Limit has for a long time been an important reference point in attempting to understand the relation between deconstruction and law. This article examines some of the themes discussed by Cornell in this influential book. The article specifically evaluates the translation of Derrida’s thinking into law as argued for by Cornell and concludes from this reading that Cornell to some extent misrepresents and also unnecessarily “tames” Derrida’s thinking. Instead of leading to the radical transformation of law and society, Cornell’s book gives support to an understanding of the relation between law and justice that is unlikely to have this effect. The article expounds a different reading of deconstruction based on a number of Derridean texts and argues that Derrida’s thinking poses a more radical challenge to law than that presented by Cornell.Item Derrida and legal scholarship: A certain step beyond(Springer, 2009) De Ville, JacquesA book review of 'Derrida and Legal Philosophy' edited by Peter Goodrich, Florian Hoffmann, Michel Rosenfeld, Cornelia Vismann, published by Palgrave Macmillan (Basingstoke, Hampshire/New York), 2008, ISBN-13: 978-0-230-57361-1.Item Derrida's 'The Purveyor of Truth' and constitutional reading(Springer, 2008) De Ville, JacquesIn this article the author explores Jacques Derrida’s reading in ‘The Purveyor of Truth’ of Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Purloined Letter’. In his essay, Derrida proposes a reading which differs markedly from the interpretation proposed by Lacan in his Seminar on ‘The Purloined Letter’. To appreciate Derrida’s reading, which is not hermeneutic-semantic in nature like that of Lacan, it is necessary to look at the relation of Derrida’s essay to his other texts on psychoanalysis, more specifically insofar as the Freudian death drive is concerned. The present article explores this ‘notion’ as elaborated on by Freud in Beyond the Pleasure Principle as well as Derrida’s reading of this text. It also investigates the importance of the ‘notion’ of the death drive as well as the significance of Derrida’s reading of The Purloined Letter for constitutional interpretation.Item Derrida, the conditional and the unconditional(Juta Law, 2007) De Ville, JacquesIn his recent book, Law and Sacrifice: Towards a Post-Apartheid Theory of Law, Johan van der Walt gives a clear exposition of the possible impact of inter alia Jacques Derrida's thinking on law. In this article, the book is critically analyzed and it is shown that Derrida's texts provide scope for a different interpretation. With reference to a number of themes it is shown that Derrida's thinking is more far reaching than in Van der Walt's model. The unconditional for example plays a vital role in Derrida's thinking while it is almost absent in Van der Walt's model. Van der Walt stresses the need for plurality and the impossibility of reconciliation between different views of the law in a particular case. Such an approach can have conservative political consequences. A different interpretation of Derrida, where the unconditional is more prominent, holds more promise for a post-apartheid theory of law.Item Desire and language in Derrida’s 'Force of Law'(Franz Steiner Verlag, 2009) De Ville, JacquesIn this article, the author proposes a reading of 'Force of Law' from two angles: boundless desire and the ‘law’ of language. The author contends that an analysis from these perspectives casts new light on the notion of the ‘mystical’, as well as repetition, singularity and good/evil as they appear in Derrida’s text. In exploring the ‘notion’ of desire, the article focuses specifically on Derrida’s analysis of Freud’s Beyond the Pleasure Principle in To Speculate – On Freud where the death drive is explored. The author shows the importance of this essay for an understanding of the relation between justice and law. The mystical and justice, the author contends, is to be understood with reference to the death drive, and repetition or law enforcement as its return. Law enforcement could also be viewed in terms of the ‘notion’ of iterability in Derrida’s texts on language. These perspectives furthermore allow for an understanding of singularity in terms of unconditionality and of justice as beyond good and evil.Item The ghostly dance of Zarathustra(2013) De Ville, JacquesReading of C.W. Maris’s Nietzsche-Niëzky-Nijinsky: De Dans van Zarathustra (2004) and De Dans van Zarathustra: Nietzsche en de vrolijke rechtswetenschap (2006).Item The Gift and the meaning-giving subject: A Reading of Given Time(Springer, 2010) De Ville, JacquesIn this essay the relation between justice and the gift in Derrida’s thinking is explored. The essay shows that an understanding of the ontological difference or the relation between Being and beings in Heidegger’s thinking as well as Freud’s speculations on the death drive are essential to comprehend the ‘concept’ or ‘notion’ of différance as well as the gift in Derrida’s thinking. The analysis points to the complexity of Derrida’s thinking in his contemplation of the relation between justice and law and the need for a broader investigation to understand what is at stake in this regard. An exploration of the gift shows that Derrida’s thinking on justice is not ‘relativistic’ as is often assumed and that the gift can in a certain way function as a ‘guide’ in questions of constitutional interpretation.Item Levinas on law: A Derridean reading of Manderson’s Proximity, Levinas, and the Soul of Law(Griffith University, Griffith Law School, Socio-Legal Research Centre, 2007) De Ville, JacquesIn this article, Desmond Manderson’s book, Proximity, Levinas, and the Soul of Law (2006) is analysed specifically with reference to the accuracy with which it translates Derrida’s thinking into law. Manderson, in a number of instances, invokes Derrida’s thinking as a ‘corrective’ to that of Levinas. The author shows that this invocation by Manderson of Derrida’s texts is selective and does not take account of Derrida’s broader ‘philosophical’ approach. The author points to the differences between, but also the correspondence in the thinking of Levinas and Derrida. He contends that being true to Derrida’s thinking requires that proximity be viewed not as simply making law responsive as proposed by Manderson, but as having a paradoxical structure. The latter would give expression to the distinction that Derrida draws between the conditional and the unconditional. Only if proximity is viewed in this manner will judges be faced with a true responsibility in deciding negligence cases; only then will justice stand a chance.Item Madness and the law: The Derrida/Foucault debate revisited(Springer, 2010) De Ville, JacquesIn this article the Derrida/Foucault debate is scrutinised with two closely related aims in mind: (1) reconsidering the way in which Foucault’s texts, and especially the more recently published lectures, should be read; and (2) establishing the relation between law and madness. The article firstly calls for a reading of Foucault which exceeds metaphysics with the security it offers, by taking account of Derrida’s reading of Foucault as well as of the heterogeneity of Foucault’s texts. The article reflects in detail on a text of Derrida on Foucault (‘Cogito and the History of Madness’) as well as a text of Foucault on Blanchot (‘Maurice Blanchot: The Thought from Outside’). The latter text shows that Foucault was at times acutely aware of the difficulty involved in exceeding metaphysics and that he realised the importance in this regard of a reflection on literature. These reflections tie in closely with Foucault’s History of Madness as well as with Derrida’s reflections on literature and on madness. Both Derrida and Foucault contend that law has much to learn from literature in understanding the relation between itself and madness. Literature more specifically points to law’s ‘origin’ in madness. The article contends that a failure to take seriously this origin, also in the reading of Foucault’s lectures, would amount to a denial by law of itself.Item Mythology and the images of justice(University of California Press, 2011) De Ville, JacquesThis essay enquires into the depictions of Justice through the ages, as well as the myths surrounding these depictions, more particularly in Egypt, Greece, and Rome, as well as in modern times. The essay departs in significant respects from traditional interpretations by seeking to gain from the insights in relation to mythology and the use of symbols provided by psychoanalysis, structuralism, Heidegger’s thinking on Being, and deconstruction. Insofar as psychoanalysis is concerned, of importance in the present context is Freud’s analysis of symbolism in the interpretation of dreams and in myths, specifically insofar as he contends that the symbols employed there almost invariably have a sexual connotation. The approach of Claude Lévi-Strauss is the focus of the detour through structuralism, with Lévi-Strauss challenging certain of the most prevalent ideas in relation to myth, such as that there is some original version of a myth, usually believed to be the earliest version. In the case of Heidegger, of particular importance is his challenge to us “moderns” to not be too quick in our belief that we understand ancient texts or the ancient conceptions of deities. He more specifically places in question the common belief that the gods and goddesses are persons or that they are abstract personifications of concepts. Derrida, in his analysis of the texts of Freud, Lévi-Strauss and Heidegger, further develops the ideas of each of these thinkers, seeking thereby to go beyond the Oedipus complex, beyond the security of structure, and beyond Being. After an analysis of depictions of the goddesses Ma’at, Themis, Dike and Justitia, based on the insights gained in the preceding analysis, the essay concludes with a reading of the blindfold of Justice in her modern guise which seeks to exceed metaphysics. Drawing specifically on Derrida’s analysis of blindness in drawing, it arrives eventually not at the essence, but the an-essence of justice.Item Rethinking power and law: Foucault’s Society must be Defended(Springer, 2011) De Ville, JacquesMichel Foucault provides a radical challenge to the liberal approach to power and law, which is echoed by Jacques Derrida. Important differences exist between the analyses of Foucault and Derrida which should not be overlooked. This essay proceeds on the basis of an awareness of these differences, yet it at the same time attempts to bring these thinkers closer together, with reference specifically to the thinking of Freud. It is often said that Foucault does not offer an alternative to that which he criticises or that his analyses do not provide for a way in which to escape from the effects of power. By specifically focusing on Foucault’s reliance on the notion of ‘play’ in Society Must Be Defended, it is submitted that an ‘escape’ is in fact provided for. The deconstructive reading of Foucault which is presented here attempts to ensure that Foucault does not remain trapped within metaphysics.Item Rethinking the notion of a 'higher law': Heidegger and Derrida on the Anaximander fragment(Springer, 2009) De Ville, JacquesThe Anaximander fragment, in the readings of both Heidegger and Derrida, speaks of that which exceeds positive law. In this article, the author provides a detailed reading of Heidegger’s Der Spruch des Anaximander, showing how Heidegger relates this fragment to his thinking of Being, the latter having been ‘forgotten’ by metaphysics. Heidegger’s reading at the same time involves a contemplation of technology and of the ontological relation of beings to each other. Derrida’s reading of Heidegger’s Der Spruch highlights specifically those parts of Heidegger’s text where that which precedes Being’s gathering, Being’s disjoining or dissemination, is pointed to. This disjoining, Derrida contends, speaks of the gift of a day more ancient than memory itself and ties in closely with certain aspects of the thinking of Marx. Derrida’s focus on that which precedes Being is in turn related to his contemplation of the law or condition of possibility of technology and also of that which makes possible a relation to the other as other. This condition of possibility, or the gift of Being, which Heidegger’s text also speaks of, involves a ‘higher law’ which can serve as a ‘measure’ for the evaluation, interpretation and transformation of positive law.Item Revisiting Plato’s Pharmacy(Springer, 2010) De Ville, JacquesIn this essay, one of Derrida’s early texts, Plato’s pharmacy, is analysed in detail, more specifically in relation to its reflections on writing and its relation to law. This analysis takes place with reference to a number of Derrida’s other texts, in particular those on Freud. It is especially Freud’s texts on dream interpretation and on the dream-work which are of assistance in understanding the background to Derrida’s analysis of writing in Plato’s pharmacy. The essay shows the close relation between Derrida’s analysis of Plato’s texts and Freud’s study of the dream-work. The forces at work in dreams, it appears, are at play in all texts, which in turn explains Derrida’s contentions in relation to the pharmakon as providing the condition of possibility of Plato’s texts. The essay furthermore points to the continuity between this ‘early’ text of Derrida and his ‘later’, seemingly more politico-legal texts of the 1990s. A close reading of Plato’s pharmacy, with its investigation via ‘writing’ of the foundations of metaphysics, and thus also of the Western concept of law, is obligatory should one wish to comprehend how Derrida attempts to exceed the restricted economy of metaphysics through his analysis of concepts such as justice and hospitality.Item Sovereignty without sovereignty: Derrida’s Declarations of Independence(Springer, 2008) De Ville, JacquesThis article questions the common assumptions in legal theory regarding Derrida’s well-known Declarations of Independence. Through a close reading of this text, well-known ground such as the relation between speech and writing, the notion of representation, speech act theory, the signature, and the proper name is covered. The contribution that this analysis makes in the present context lies in the additional ‘step’ that it takes. The article seeks to give an explanation of the laws at work in Derrida’s thinking in the above respects and to explain more specifically how they find expression in Declarations of Independence. The article in this regard also investigates the importance and role of the ‘notions’ of death, loss of meaning, loss of ownership, and loss of sovereignty in Derrida’s thinking. The contention is that if we take account of Derrida’s reading in Declarations of Independence, it is possible to view constitutions in a very different way, more specifically their ‘origins’, with inevitable implications for constitutional interpretation.Item Spectres of Coke: Judicial supervision as a revolutionary inheritance(Springer Verlag, 2007) De Ville, JacquesSir Edward Coke is known for having played a central role in establishing the power of the common law courts to exercise a supervisory jurisdiction over the executive/administration. Coke is usually praised in the literature for his boldness in doing this, whilst he is at the same time censured for having dared to suggest that this jurisdiction should be a very wide one. This essay questions the inheritance of judicial supervision and enquires whether there may be a secret to uncover in Coke’s texts. Referring to Coke’s Institutes, it is suggested that the wide jurisdiction of the common law courts that Coke advanced, is linked to and should be understood in light of Coke’s pronouncements in the epigrams on law and justice. Judicial supervision, according to this reading of Coke, involves not only a necessarily limited jurisdiction in accordance with law, but also the desire for an unlimited jurisdiction, which corresponds with Derrida’s analysis of justice and law. This reading of Coke, it is suggested, calls on us to view judicial supervision as revolutionary in nature which requires of the courts to fundamentally rethink the way in which they exercise their supervisory function.