POETRY

I am skeptical about Derrida

Dear Arash,

Bro, I wouldn’t think of discouraging people from reading and engaging any thinker. But I think that Derrida was a poser, conceited, shallow and a poor scholar. Some of his ideas were interesting and sensible, but he conveyed them poorly. He never expressed himself in a straightforward manner. He was always very obscure and used indecipherable jargon in order to make himself appear profound and deep and to avoid criticism of his ideas. He was most often addressing a special class of scholars who were already converts or looking for a guru.

He belittled truth and reason, he also rejected realism and established moral and political norms. He was a nihilist and a pessimist and his ideas were destructive, often providing justification for those who turn their back on tolerance, equality, transparency, honesty and decency.

I think that it is far better to learn how to use your own mind rather than to follow these kinds of know-it-all cult heroes who in one hand reject comprehensive explanations and on the other put them forward without good arguments. Read him but do it critically and with a moderate amount of skepticism, as with any thinker. Do not be fooled but the aura and the hype that surrounds him. He is begging to be deconstructed.

Cheers

He's great

I like him a lot too.I recently watched "Derrida" the movie / documentary. I still don't quiet get his "Deconstruction" but that does not mean I'll stop reading him. There is an archive dedicated to him at UC Irvine where he used to teach.Beautiful poem dedicated to the Master.