Now in paperback, nine lectures from Jacques Derrida that challenge the influential Marxist distinction between thinking and acting.
Theory and Practice is a series of nine lectures that Jacques Derrida delivered at the cole Normale Sup©rieure in 1976 and 1977. The topic of âtheory and practiceâ was associated above all with Marxist discourse and particularly the influential interpretation of Marx by Louis Althusser. Derridaâs many questions to Althusser and other thinkers aim at unsettling the distinction between thinking and acting.
Derridaâs investigations set out from Marxâs âTheses on Feuerbach,â in particular the eleventh thesis, which has often been taken as a mantra for the âend of philosophy,â to be brought about by Marxist practice. Derrida argues, however, that Althusser has no such end in view and that his discourse remains resolutely philosophical, even as it promotes the theory/practice pair as primary values. This seminar also draws fascinating connections between Marxist thought and Heidegger and features Derridaâs signature reconsideration of the dichotomy between doing and thinking. This text, available for the first time in English, shows that Derrida was doing important work on Marx long before Specters of Marx. As with the other volumes in this series, it gives readers an unparalleled glimpse into Derridaâs thinking at its bestâ"spontaneous, unpredictable, and groundbreaking.
Industry Reviews
"For Anglophone readers who view deconstruction as a set of arguments about language and literature or see Derrida's early 1990s exploration of Marxism as weak and belated, Theory and Practice is enlightening." * Los Angeles Review of Books *
"Wills's nuanced, word-play-sensitive translation includes foreign terms for those with ears to hear the etymological associations so important to Derrida's arguments and presents a crisp, clear, elegant statement of the author's text. . . . Summing Up: Recommended." * CHOICE *
"Jacques Derrida's Theory and Practice, a seminar he taught at the Ecole Normale Superieure (ENS) over the academic year 1976-1977, has all the signs of being a highly provocative text. . . . Derrida's readings are always enlightening. And in David Wills's excellent translation, we are confronted with rigorous and probing investigations of the theory/practice opposition, which weave together Marx and Althusser with Kant, Heidegger, and Aristotle in surprising ways." -- Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews