Can deconstruction be accomplished not through the close reading of just one discourse, but through its combination with another? This paper aims at exploring this second way of performing deconstruction through a particular case study: Marxism and psychoanalysis. In the body of the essay, the history of Freudo-Marxism is divided into two parts, depending on which psychoanalyst stands as point of reference: Freud or Lacan. We proceed by studying the four main strategies by virtue of which a genuine (...) combination between Marxism and psychoanalysis has been historically attempted: separation (Reich), domination (Marcuse), contradiction (Althusser) and, finally, deconstruction (Laclau). (shrink)

This is Appendix B to the note, Deconstructing the Physical World (DPW). This appendix extends DPW to provide a set of new conceptual tools able inter alia to deliver a systematic, well-structured and highly novel set of insights into: core aspects of how language learning and use might work; what precisely is going on in inverted qualia thought experiments and in relation to the knowledge argument; and how incorporating differentiated forms of qualia into some fundamental ideas about language learning and (...) use can help more clearly define what we mean when we refer to such things as ‘concepts’ and ‘imagination’. (shrink)

This is an End Note to 'Deconstructing the Physical World: The Substructure of Language' (DPWSL) that validates key concepts introduced in DPWSL by demonstrating how they can be used to build a model able to describe, explain and predict the Stroop effect, the reverse Stroop effect and other Stroop-related effects, which are an array of empirically reproducible effects widely studied in cognitive psychology.

Some metaphysics are provided showing that what is commonly called ‘the physical world’ can be deconstructed into three ‘levels’: a single, unified ‘noumenal world’ on which everything supervenes; a ‘phenomenal world’ that we each privately experience through direct perception of phenomena; and a ‘collective world’ that people in any given ‘language using group’ experience through learning, using and adapting that group’s language. This deconstruction is shown to enable a clear account of qualia and of how people can hold some (...) things to be physically real even when it is clear no one can ever directly experience those things as phenomena. It is further shown to enable a single, internally consistent, largely empirically supported conceptual framework – a ‘metacosmology’ – able to encompass not only the physical world as people conceive of it for everyday purposes, and as scientists conceive of it for scientific purposes, but also people’s first person phenomenal experience of a physical world and, prospectively, the mechanisms by which such first person, conscious experiences can be generated. (shrink)

The accelerating exploitation of non-human animals and the ecological crises that define the Anthropocene expose the limits of ethical frameworks grounded in human exceptionalism. This paper develops a unified post-anthropocentric ethic by tracing a conceptual movement from deconstruction to eco-phenomenology. Deconstructive analysis reveals how Western metaphysics relies on binary divisions—particularly between “human” and “animal”—that homogenise diverse forms of life and legitimate their exclusion from ethical concern. Yet while deconstruction dismantles these inherited structures, it cannot alone supply the ontological (...) resources needed for positive ethical and ecological reconceptualisation. Eco-phenomenology offers that reconstruction by grounding ethical life in embodiment, relationality, perceptual world-hood, and ecological interdependence. When brought together, these approaches yield a comprehensive ethic that rejects anthropocentric hierarchies, affirms the plurality of animal worlds, and reorients conservation toward non-dominating coexistence. The resulting framework provides a novel theoretical basis for rewilding, wildlife protection, and multispecies justice, articulating a practical and philosophical response to contemporary ecological collapse. This paper was gleaned from two of my previous large bodies of work – namely my Masters’ thesis: Delinearizing the Insuperable Line: Deconstruction as an Animal Ethic (2015); and my PhD: The Value of Being Wild: A Phenomenological Approach to Wildlife Conservation (2019). (shrink)

Misinformation can have significant societal consequences. For example, misinformation about climate change has confused the public and stalled support for mitigation policies. When people lack the expertise and skill to evaluate the science behind a claim, they typically rely on heuristics such as substituting judgment about something complex (i.e. climate science) with judgment about something simple (i.e. the character of people who speak about climate science) and are therefore vulnerable to misleading information. Inoculation theory offers one approach to effectively neutralize (...) the influence of misinformation. Typically, inoculations convey resistance by providing people with information that counters misinformation. In contrast, we propose inoculating against misinformation by explaining the fallacious reasoning within misleading denialist claims. We offer a strategy based on critical thinking methods to analyse and detect poor reasoning within denialist claims. This strategy includes detailing argument structure, determining the truth of the premises, and checking for validity, hidden premises, or ambiguous language. Focusing on argument structure also facilitates the identification of reasoning fallacies by locating them in the reasoning process. Because this reason-based form of inoculation is based on general critical thinking methods, it offers the distinct advantage of being accessible to those who lack expertise in climate science. We applied this approach to 42 common denialist claims and find that they all demonstrate fallacious reasoning and fail to refute the scientific consensus regarding anthropogenic global warming. This comprehensive deconstruction and refutation of the most common denialist claims about climate change is designed to act as a resource for communicators and educators who teach climate science and/or critical thinking. (shrink)

This is Appendix A to the note: Deconstructing the Physical World (DPW). It shows how the conceptual framework developed in DPW relates to Russellian Monism (RM) and that it can accrue RM’s benefits while defeating the combination problem that challenges many RMs.

This article examines how the modern era, shaped by the Renaissance, the Scientific Revolution, and the rise of new philosophical paradigms, reshaped the very idea of God. Under the influence of Romanticism, materialism, mechanical determinism, and deepening religious skepticism, the classical image of a transcendent, absolute deity began to unravel. As these intellectual currents gained ground, God came to be seen less as an objective, eternal being and more as a concept open to interpretation, one increasingly centered on human subjectivity. (...) Religious language, once the province of metaphysical truth-claims, began to function more as a vehicle for psychological and social meaning. David Hume’s critique of causality and his incisive attacks on the traditional proofs for God’s existence, especially in An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding and Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, proved pivotal. His arguments undermined rational theology and cleared the path for experiential and skeptical approaches to religion. Yet this anti-realist reimagining of God faces serious limitations: it struggles to express divine essence and attributes, often overlooks the existential dimension of faith, and fails to account for the depth of religious experience. We argue that a viable rethinking of God today must move beyond mere critique. It requires drawing on the rational resources of the tradition while engaging constructively with both modern deconstruction and post-structuralist reinterpretations. Only through such dialogue can faith be reformulated within a contemporary, meaning-oriented horizon. (shrink)

The Deconstruction of Philosophy : The Spectres of Jacques Derrida - Irfan Ajvazi.

This philosophical essay explores the deconstruction of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's educational ideas, seeking to adapt them for contemporary emancipatory education. Rousseau advocated for a naturalistic and individualized education, but his ideas require revision to address current challenges and promote emancipation. Through the deconstruction proposed by Derrida and the dialogical pedagogy of Paulo Freire, it is argued that emancipatory education must go beyond Rousseau's naturalism, incorporating social critique and active learner engagement in transforming social structures.

In this paper, I argue that Augustine's conception of God as substance (substantia) has misleadingly been evoked by Martin Heidegger's deconstruction of onto-theological and substantialist variants of metaphysics as they mistook entities (Seienden, entia, beings) f r their very Being (Sein, ens, esse) which cannot be conceptualized or objectified by human thinking, but makes both their thought and reality possible. Even though Augustine sought somehow to reconcile a Neoplatonic, essentialist cosmology with a Judeo-Christian worldview of historical redemption, Heidegger not (...) only failed to properly recognize his indebtedness to Augustinian existential anthropology, but also the latter's contention that the actuality of beings and contingent history ultimately determines ontological concepts in their basic difference from their ontical counterparts, compromising thus Heidegger's intuitive criticisms against the confusion between God and Being (Sein). (shrink)

For many decades, Duhem has been considered a paradigmatic instrumentalist, and while some commentators have argued against classifying him in this way, it still seems prevalent as an interpretation of his philosophy of science. Yet such a construal bears scant resemblance to the views presented in his own works—so little, indeed, that it might be said to constitute no more than a mere phantom with respect to his actual thought. In this article, we aim to deconstruct this phantom, tracing the (...) sources of the misconceptions surrounding his ideas and pinpointing the sources and/or causes of its proliferation. We subsequently point out and discuss those elements of his philosophy that, taken together, support the view of him as a scientific realist of a sophisticated kind. Finally, we defend our own interpretation of his thought against suggestions to the effect that it is oriented towards neither instrumentalism nor scientific realism. (shrink)

In an era where generative AI challenges conventional notions of creativity, this paper redefines creativity not as mere novelty or composition, but as a profound structural transformation grounded in human experience. Drawing upon Judgemental Philosophy (JP) and its core concepts of Constructivity (C1), Coherence (C2), and Resonance (R), this inquiry argues that radical creativity emerges from a dialectical process. It begins with a 'insufficiency of R'—an experiential recognition that an existing meaning structure is inadequate—which triggers a critical, judgemental act of (...) 'deconstruction.' By bringing JP into dialogue with Jacques Derrida's concept of deconstruction and Thomas Kuhn's paradigm shift, we model this process as a unified structure applicable from individual breakthroughs to scientific revolutions. This framework illuminates the fundamental difference between human creativity, which is driven by the experiential capacity to deconstruct failing paradigms, and the generative capabilities of LLMs, which operate as 'Resonance-less' systems within existing paradigms. The paper concludes that the future of human creativity lies not in competing with AI's generative capacity, but in cultivating our unique ability for 'deep resonance' through dedicated learning and the 'courage of deconstruction' required for genuine paradigm shifts. (shrink)

‘Justice’ is spoken of in two ways: the lawful and the fair. The law is a human construct that is devoted to the advantage of all, or to the advantage of the best, or to the advantage of those in power or to the advantage of those representing it – let it be the politician, the media, the TV presenter, the filmmaker. Thus, the law serves the production or the preservation of happiness within politics and business. The law commands us (...) to act according to the mean. A well-written law follows the mean well and a poorly written law does not. On the other hand, fairness is a principle sometimes materialised through the law and the given justice system. Fairness is the ultimate value pursued by both the common law and civil law traditions. However, its distribution through the law and the representation of this delivery varies. Does this mean that a different kind of justice is distributed? Through the teachings of Aristotle, this essay aims to deconstruct the notion of justice, by breaking down its two ingredients, the lawful and the fair, and by analysing the effect of their representation in modern European society. The relativity attached to the notion of justice is not a modern phenomenon, but a philosophical matter that can be analysed and indeed explained through the teachings of Aristotle and its contemporary students. The analysis will be developed in the context of convergent Europe, focusing on the role of the media and courts especially in relation to criminal justice. (shrink)

This paper draws on the deconstruction(ist) toolbox and specifically on the textual unweaving tactics of supplementarity, exemplarity, and parergonality, with a view to critically assessing institutional (UNESCO’s) and ordinary tourists’ claims to authenticity as regards artifacts and sites of ‘cultural heritage’. Through the ‘destru[k]tion’ of claims to ‘originality’ and ‘myths of origin’, that function as preservatives for canning such artifacts and sites, the cultural arche-writing that forces signifiers to piously bow before a limited string of ‘transcendental signifieds’ is brought (...) to full view. The stench of the aeons is thus forced to evaporate through a post-transcendentalist opening towards originary myths’ original doubles. (shrink)

This paper proposes a three-dimensional model of deconstruction, integrating Derrida’s concept of diff´erance and Baudrillard’s theory of simulacra. The model is structured along three axes: 1. X-axis (Linear Temporality): Texts are read in linear sequence (A → B → C), yet diff´erance interrupts continuity, introducing temporal delay and slippage. 2. Y-axis (Binary Plane): Structuralist binaries (truth/falsehood, center/periphery) are mapped on a plane, then deconstructed by destabilizing hierarchy and blurring oppositions. 3. Z-axis (Simulacral Depth): Baudrillard’s four orders of simulacra are (...) con- ceptualized as a depth dimension, where reality and representation dissolve into floating signs without stable referents. By combining these axes, deconstruction is reconceived not as a purely tex- tual strategy but as a spatial methodology, where meaning is und. (shrink)

I will here present a number of problems concerning the idea that there is ontological vagueness, and the related claim that appeal to this idea can help solve some vagueness-related problems. A theme underlying the discussion will be the distinction between vagueness specifically and indeterminacy more generally (and, relatedly, the distinction between ontological vagueness and ontological indeterminacy). Even if the world is somehow ontologically indeterminate it by no means follows that it is, properly speaking, ontologically vague.1..

The "World Converts Day" narrative represents more than a simple viral hoax—it embodies the complex interplay between digital disinformation ecosystems, institutional religious authority, and Indonesia's ongoing project of maintaining religious harmony within democratic pluralism. While factually baseless, its persistence demonstrates how digital spaces can amplify marginal voices into seemingly legitimate movements that challenge established frameworks of religious moderation. Countering such narratives requires more than fact-checking; it demands rebuilding institutional credibility, strengthening digital literacy across demographic groups, and consistently modeling inclusive religious (...) engagement through concrete policies and practices. Indonesia's experience suggests that sustainable religious harmony in the digital age requires proactive institutional positioning rather than merely reactive corrections. The true measure of success lies not in eliminating controversial narratives entirely—which may be impossible—but in ensuring they remain marginal to mainstream religious discourse where moderation, dialogue, and mutual respect remain the dominant paradigms. (shrink)

Judea Pearl’s causal formalism marked a paradigm shift in scientific reasoning by elevating causation from correlation through graphical models and symbolic intervention calculus. Yet, under the lens of Recursive Coherence, his framework reveals critical structural deficiencies. This paper deconstructs Pearl’s causal logic through the five axioms of recursive coherence reasoning (persistence, trajectory, information value, arbitration, and pruning) and identifies key blind spots: static graph assumptions, binary intervention logic, fragile counterfactuals, unfiltered signal inflation, and identifiability-based arbitration. These weaknesses lead to coherence (...) stagnation, entropy retention, and reduced option space across dynamic systems. I then reconstruct a coherence-maximizing alternative: dynamic causal topologies derived from smoothed coherence gradients, gradient-based interventions replacing binary “do” operations, μ-validated signal filtration, and Δ²C-optimized path arbitration. The resulting system retains Pearl’s explanatory power while restoring adaptive viability, maximizing structural alignment under entropy descent. This reframing challenges the sufficiency of identifiability as the core criterion for causal adequacy and proposes coherence curvature as the new metric for scientific reasoning. Pearl’s insights are thus not discarded but refactored; his revolution, now recursive. (shrink)

This paper revisits the concept of the “leap” in Derrida’s philosophy as a paleonymic gesture that both inherits and intervenes in the metaphysical tradition. Whereas logocentric thinking conceives the leap as a movement toward an originary ground or a pure realm of presence, Derrida extends it as an infinite, prosthetic motion that never reaches its destination. Drawing on Derrida’s deconstructions, the paper examines how Derrida extends the metaphysical leap—an attempt to transcend contamination—into a deconstructive movement that embraces impurity and relationality. (...) By analysing Derrida’s engagement with Descartes, Heidegger, Blanchot, and Nancy, this study argues that deconstruction itself can be understood as a “leap without ground,” one that endlessly re-leaps within the interplay of inside and outside, presence and absence. (shrink)

I distinguish two senses of the word “deconstruction.” Then I quote a passage by a critic from the 1860s which, together with trends of that time, gives rise to the question of whether deconstructive interpretation existed in the nineteenth century.

This paper dismantles the so-called hard problem of consciousness by identifying the location of subjectivity on the basis of physical necessity. Subjectivity is not a function that is generated. Rather, it is the origin point of a coordinate system that must be structurally placed as a consequence of causal singularization—the forced convergence of causation under physical constraints such as exclusive output, thermodynamic limits, and survival-driven selection pressure. Placement Theory: Structural Diagram of Subjective Causation (Deconstructing the Hard Problem of Consciousness through (...) Physical Necessity). (shrink)

Abstract This material performs a total reduction of Heideggerian ontology by qualifying its key concepts, such as Daseinsmechanik, Ereignislichtungsgefüge, and Seinzumtodevorlaufen, exclusively as linguistic artifacts resulting from a profound morphological error in the interpretation of central nervous system states, and, based on the methodology of neurobiological monism, conducts a radical amputation of the existential lexicon, defining the human being as Selbstorganisationsmaterie whose configuration is entirely determined by causally closed physical processes.

As part of a larger study, predictors of self-blame were investigated in a sample of 149 undergraduate sexual assault survivors. Each participant completed questionnaires regarding their preassault, peritraumatic, and post assault experiences and participated in an individual interview. Results confirmed the central hypothesis that, although several established correlates independently relate to self-blame, only cognitive content and process variables—negative self-cognitions and counterfactual-preventability cognitions—uniquely predict self-blame in a multivariate model.

___MERGING of temporally distant events: One perceives a singular causal relation that c causes e whenever c instantiates a mental property C which anticipates a certain mental property E instantiated by e. Such a knowledge of future self is feasible by there being a common mental property D that is instantiated by both c and e. -/- ___SPLITTING to temporally distant events: In the action that is aimed to bring about E, the knowledge or perception or D (explained by the (...) anticipation of E by C) in turn causally explains an event cc instantiating C and then (via causing cc) event ee instantiating E. (shrink)

I read Sara Kofman's work on Nietzsche, Charles Mills' _The Racial Contract_, and Kodwo Eshun's Afrofuturist musicology to argue that most condemnations of "faking it" in music rest on a racially and sexually problematic fetishization of "the real.".

This paper introduces a process-based model of consciousness grounded in the dynamics of cognitive frames, temporal drift, and structural collapse. Moving away from substance-based or static ontologies, it outlines consciousness as an active negotiation of internal distinctions, capable of recursive reconfiguration under tension. By reconceptualizing coherence not as stability, but as a form of resonance, the model provides a pragmatic lens on belief revision, self-awareness, and epistemic resilience. This framework aims to bridge phenomenology, cognitive science, and applied epistemology without relying (...) on metaphysical assumptions. (shrink)

In this article I claim that distinction should be made between an "early Derrida" and a "later Derrida," similar to the one made between Wittgenstein of the Tractatus and Wittgenstein of the Investigations, or between Heidegger before the Kehre and Heidegger after it. Acceptance of such a distinction enables us to understand Derrida's teachings more clearly, to solve a disagreement in Derrida scholarship, and to understand his deconstruction as less contradictory. I shall also explain the reasons for, and causes (...) of, the change in Derrida' teachings and distinguish between those aspects that changed and those that did not. (shrink)

Intensive relations between philosophical deconstruction and architecture, which were present in the late 1980s and early 1990s, belong to the past and therefore can be described with greater objectivity. Within these relations three basic variations can be distinguished: -/- the first one, in which philosophy of deconstruction deals with architectural terms but does not interfere with real architecture. In this version of the account, philosophy explored the architectural metaphors used by philosophers, but ignored real architecture. This stage was (...) a shaky balance between pure philosophy and the philosophical concepts of architects; -/- the second one, in which a collaboration between Jacques Derrida and a group of architects interested in his concepts is commenced. The philosopher managed to impose on Eisenman and Tschumi the subject of the philosophy of chôra. In addition to working directly with the philosopher, both architects introduced in their publications many concepts that developed the philosophy of deconstruction; -/- and the third one, in which completed or only designed objects or new concepts of deconstruction created by architects gain their supremacy over philosophy. A special feature of this stage of the account was the contribution of architectural works to philosophy. A situation has arisen where works of art are primarily of value as philosophical statements. -/- The following book analyses these three possible ways, first of all with the reference to Peter Eisenman and Bernard Tschumi. -/- . (shrink)

Cybernetic Revelation explores the dual philosophical histories of deconstruction and artificial intelligence, tracing the development of concepts like "logos" and the notion of modeling the mind technologically from pre-history to contemporary thinkers such as Slavoj Zizek and Steven Pinker. The writing is clear and accessible throughout, yet the text probes deeply into major philosophers seen by JD Casten as "conceptual engineers." Philosophers covered include: Anaximander, Heraclitus, Parmenides, Plato, Aristotle, Philo, Augustine, Shakespeare, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Kant, Hegel, (...) Nietzsche, Freud, Jung, Joyce, Dewey, Wittgenstein, Heidegger, Adorno, Benjamin, Derrida, Chomsky, Zizek, Pinker, Dennett, Hofstadter, Stiegler + more; with special chapters on: AI's history, Complexity, Deconstructing AI, Aesthetics, Consciousness + more... (shrink)

This essay explores how contemporary works of critical theory and deconstruction can challenge preconceptions of the body and embodiments and interrogate their limits, particularly in relation to intertwined foldings of desire, gender, race and sexuality. It aims to suggest that Jacques Derrida’s acute concern for the question of translation might help challenge and re-configure the conventional dichotomy between understandings of the body either as physical/material or as socio-culturally constructed. The authors then analyse the questions of translation and untranslatability in (...) relation to interculturality, and explore their implications for thinking the corporeal and the material. (shrink)

The question of justice in Western philosophy finds its humble beginnings in the interplay of life and death. I am referring here to Plato’s Apology. The Apology is not only a text tracing the fate of the great philosopher Socrates by recounting his final speech before the judges of Athens, but it is also a text that, on a more subtle level, announces the advent of a promising justice that is birthed from death, or, to be more precise, from a (...) specific kind of death. Socrates, here, develops a justice that does not surge from the defence of one’s determination as a singular accused, or from the reconciliation of the criminal singularity into the ethical social body through pardon or punishment, but which rather derives from a negation, a radical annihilation of the category of pure singularity. Socrates does not defend himself as an accused who is determinately and definitively singular, but rather affirms the fact that, in some sense, there is no such singular to be defended, that he is not even one (οὐδείς), less than one, nothing. It is, precisely, in this affirmation of a negative, in this opening of a chasm, that a radically other conception of justice and its relation to the singular is subtly proposed. By pushing the singular to the margins of its possibility, by challenging, bending, pushing the question of the singular and its defence to its outmost limit, Socrates redeploys justice not as a remedying balance, but as the abysmal economy of the bottomless question, a fall into the void, in which life, death, the singular and justice co-incide to burst all definitive determination, substantial opposition and the possibility of establishing a firm ground for any such categories to hold as such. In gradually shedding off the substantial presuppositions of his singularity (knowledge, self-relation and relation to others), he unleashes a modality of the singular which deploys a kind of justice, a wholly other justice, which has shaken the tradition ever since, and, as this article will seek to show, reverberates again in what Jacques Derrida called deconstruction. (shrink)

Recent frontier research in biology has demonstrated that the concept of “sex,” which we commonly refer to in our daily lives, comprises a collection of traits that are either developmentally or evolutionarily unrelated or only weakly related. There is no fixed standard for determining whether a trait qualifies as “sex” or whether it falls under the category of “gender.” Therefore, the concepts of sex/gender, as well as the binary division between biological and social concepts, are not scientific facts but rather (...) models constructed by humans. This reasoning similarly applies to concepts such as sexual orientation, gender identity, and transgenders, as their definitions rely on the distinctions between sex and gender. This insight prompts us to consider the feasibility and necessity of further deconstructing the sex-gender continuum. Additionally, we further analysed the inherent tensions within the current mainstream frameworks surrounding gender and sex, highlighting significant issues regarding their lack of inclusivity. This analysis reveals that the existing framework often fails to account for the diverse and multifaceted experiences of individuals, thereby marginalising many identities and expressions. Instead, we propose replacing these constructs with a more inclusive framework that acknowledges and embraces the complexities of human identity. (shrink)

Abstract This material performs a total reduction of Heideggerian ontology by qualifying its key concepts, such as Daseinsmechanik, Ereignislichtungsgefüge, and Seinzumtodevorlaufen, exclusively as linguistic artifacts resulting from a profound morphological error in the interpretation of central nervous system states, and, based on the methodology of neurobiological monism, conducts a radical amputation of the existential lexicon, defining the human being as Selbstorganisationsmaterie whose configuration is entirely determined by causally closed physical processes.

This paper argues that there is a need to reconstruct a new paradigm for poverty policy planning in Africa because Neo-liberalism, Ubuntu ethics and African Socialism as proposed paradigms for Africa’s development are untenable. This is so because the above trio are sexist, androcentric and oblivious to structural injustices that feminize poverty in Africa. The paper further argues that even in the Western world, the neo-liberal GDP metric has been challenged and the search for alternative development indicators and paradigms is (...) on. In addition, there is a fully fledged post-neo-liberalism movement in Latin America and a de-growth and post-growth social movement in the West against neo-liberalism and its nebulous economic growth understanding of wellbeing. The paper contends that Africa cannot afford to remain aloof to all these developments. There is therefore a need to develop Pan African paradigms to articulate an endogenous perspective to African development. The paper thus advocates for the Dignified Humanness Paradigm (DHP) as an alternative to neo-liberalism, Ubuntu ethics and African Socialism. The paper also surmises that the actualization of the DHP requires an immediate awakening of the Pan African Moral Consciousness since this will militate on decolonization of the African mind from the amoral neo-liberal economism. (shrink)

This article pursues the exploration of how contemporary works of deconstruction can challenge preconceptions of the body and embodiments and interrogate their limits, particularly in relation to intertwined foldings of desire, gender, race and sexuality. Through readings of Jacques Derrida and Sarah Kofman, the authors show that deconstruction allows for an understanding of the body or bodies that goes beyond the present body — indexed as human, male, white, able, living body — thus opening up towards the thinking (...) of bodies and corporealities exceeding the limitations of Christian transsubstantiation and of the Eucharist. The deconstructive body is not one of communion; it is one of (self-)interruption, différance and non-presence. It is the other's body — or the body as otherly. The authors then analyse the ethical-political implications of this thinking of another body, one inassimilable by Western metaphysics, and marked by incalculable sexual differences, animality, undecidable life-death, machinicity, monstrosity, and so on. (shrink)

The conventions of perceiving art have been substantially linked to the appreciation of beauty as an end to the causality of pleasure. The perception of society has always been influenced by constructs of norms, mores, and ultimately, conventions, where a certain premium on pure reason and rationality is given. As such, the affective and emotive factor as a means for appreciation of what is pleasurable seems to be diminishing and thus subjugated to the principles of stern rationality. In this view, (...) Korsmeyer detests the convention by giving premium to the emotive will of the core of the human entity. Thus, the principles of the Ego and Id, where it is psychological in nature as patterned in the theoretical ideas of Jacques Lacan and Sigmund Freud, have been the approach of overarching the rationality conventions. This opus qualifies Korsemeyer’s approach on discrediting the pure rational convention and have accused such as patriarchal in nature. In the same view, Korsmeyer uses the psycho – philosophical principles of emotion and passion. However, the reinforcement of this position endangers the argument to be more supportive of the subject which Feminist Aesthetics itself seeks to discredit, - the canonical conventions of Aesthetics. This opus shall determine the probable misgivings or interpretation of Korsmeyer’s position on the involvement of Psychoanalysis, where the latter, instead of serving as a counterargument becomes a supporting premise to the conventions. Thus, creating a scaffold involving existentialism and metaphysics as a tool to bring about Transcendental Appreciation of a subject. Keywords: Feminist Aesthetics, Korsmeyer, Pleasure, Transcendental Appreciation. (shrink)

This paper revisits Derrida’s and Deleuze’s early discussions of “Platonism” in order to challenge the common claim that there is a fundamental divergence in their thought and to challenge one standard narrative about the history of deconstruction. According to that narrative, deconstruction should be understood as the successor to phenomenology. To complicate this story, I read Derrida’s “Plato’s Pharmacy” alongside Deleuze’s discussion of Platonism and simulacra at the end of Logic of Sense. Both discussions present Platonism as the (...) effort to establish a representative order (of original ideas and authorized reproductions of them) with no excess or outside (simulacra, or ideas that cannot be tied to an eidos). Since such pure representation is impossible, Platonism functions by means of the violent suppression of the simulacra and pharamakoi that exceed its eidetic structures. To overcome Platonism is thus not to reverse it, but to establish something like a practice of counter-memorials: detecting, exhuming, and writing back textual traces of what Platonism excludes. I then briefly apply this practice to narratives about the history of deconstruction, and suggest that they tend to occlude precisely the materialist elements of that history, as (for example) the importance of Spinoza as an interlocutor. In other words, the emerging canonical narrative about deconstruction runs the risk of repeating the Platonic gesture that Derrida spent his career writing against. (shrink)

I. The Ontological Shift: Beyond the "Static Noun" This paper proposes a fundamental restructuring of logical ontology. We posit that the traditional reliance on Static Point-Set Theory is the root cause of classical logical impasses. In the LC-Mathematics framework, an entity is no longer defined as a fixed "point" or an "eternal noun," but as a State Equation governed by the dual transformation of Inertia (L) and Capacity (C). What we perceive as a persistent "identity" is merely a macro-visual illusion (...) created by high-frequency resonance or an observer’s insufficient sampling rate. II. Resolving Zeno’s Paradox: The Quantized Sampling Solution Zeno’s Paradoxes (e.g., Achilles and the Tortoise) are reinterpreted as "spectral distortions" caused by the assumption of infinite spatial divisibility. The Principle of Discrete Jumping: By introducing the Axiom of Periodicity, we define a system's characteristic time step . Movement is not a continuous glide across infinite points but a series of Phase Jumps. The Logical Filter: Infinitesimal scales below the system's threshold (L/R) are filtered out as "non-existent" noise. Achilles completes his pursuit through Phase Overshoot, settling the logical distance within a finite number of sampling rounds. III. The Liar and Barber Paradoxes: Phase Rotation and Causal Latency We challenge the "frozen moment" assumption of traditional binary logic through the Phase Shift Operator (j). The Logical Pendulum: The Liar Paradox ("This statement is false") is modeled as an Ideal Oscillator. Truth and Falsehood are not mutually exclusive binaries but orthogonal vectors with a 90° Phase Difference. Identity Dilation: Regarding the Barber Paradox and the Ship of Theseus, we argue that once time flows, the system parameters (L, C, R) evolve. The "Barber" is a dynamic phase-stream, not a static constant; as the system’s energy dissipates or transforms, the original constraints (the "vow" or "constitution") undergo Causal Latency, rendering the static paradox moot in a temporal reality. IV. Conclusion: Paradoxes as Spectral Distortions This study concludes that paradoxes are not inherent flaws in reality, but failures of Static Mathematics to describe a Wave-Based Universe. By treating logic as a frequency-driven system rather than a collection of static labels, we resolve the tension between "Being" and "Becoming." Identity is a frequency, and reality is an oscillation. Keywords: LC-Mathematics, State Equation, Phase Shift (j), Zeno’s Paradox, The Liar Paradox, Sampling Rate, Time-Folding, Ontological Restructuring. -/- Extension: Quantum Duality as a Phase-Shift Phenomenon"The LC-Mathematics framework transcends classical paradoxes to provide a deterministic grounding for Wave-Particle Duality. Quantum 'superposition' is redefined as a High-Frequency Oscillation between the Magnetic (L) and Electric (C) elements. The apparent contradiction of duality is a byproduct of Time-Folding: at any discrete 'Sampling Step' , the observer perceives a localized 'Particle' (Potential Peak), while the continuous evolution across phases manifests as a 'Wave' (Kinetic Flow). In this view, the Wave-Function is not a probability map, but a Harmonious Trajectory in the complex logical plane.". (shrink)

This article proposes a new conception of art and presents a form of painting that exemplifies that concept. Considering the developments in twentieth- and 21st-century art, the author notes that art created after the conceptual period has failed so far to take account of the profound transformation that occurred within it in the twentieth century. This change consisted in the identification of art with reality, achieved by incorporating into art all significant spheres/objects of reality. One result has been the dominance (...) of referential art following the conceptualist period. Referential artworks are split into object and reference. This impedes untrammeled creativity, which would otherwise promote the integration of diverse formal elements. This article proposes painting that exemplifies such artistic creation. (shrink)

In what would become his last interview, Jacques Derrida raised the question about the legacy of his work. What would become of deconstruction after his death? -/- Derrida proposed two contradictory hypotheses: the legacy of deconstruction might be re-invested in a new philosophical undertaking that could produce new intellectual gains, or it might be deposited on a savings account – a dépôt légal – where it would attract only limited legal interest. Derrida suggested that at least part his (...) legacy should be re-invested in the development of a new European concept of international law. -/- This paper is an attempt to explore this hypothetical undertaking by translating the language of deconstruction into the language of international law. It turns out, in the course of this translation, that the relationship between international and domestic law is structured like the distinction between writing and speech – not as a conceptual distinction between equals, but as a conceptual hierarchy. While domestic law has developed organically, embodying the common sense (bon sens, gesunder Verstand) of the people, international law is an artefact, a creation of lawyers and diplomats; while domestic law is a full-fledged system, international law remains primitive – it has no basic norm, no centralized sanctioning system, no prohibition of self-help. It has no totem and taboo. -/- The narrative that supports this conceptual structure is a story of the modern, enlightened concept of civil law, the law of the contrat social. A deconstruction of this conceptual structure produces a new concept of international law that does not embrace a centralized system but challenge, uncertainty and a risk of failure – a law that has no totem and no taboo. (shrink)

This paper reviews the complex and nuanced treatment of metaphysics in the first major works of Jacques Derrida (1967-72), and it supplements deconstruction with existential themes in order to safeguard it from the accusation of nihilistic relativism. The critique of logocentrism, often systematized through a paradoxical 'ontology of the trace', has been embraced by phenomenology and post-deconstruction, but also seen as insufficient for today's challenges. Returning to Derrida's demonstrations, I explore why metaphysics must be textual if it is (...) to produce two operations constitutive of thinking: a certain technology of forgetting and an experience of meaning as singularized in words. This textuality is, specifically, that of writing, which reveals how, beyond truth, it is meaning-making that is sought by metaphysics and its writers. The techne of writing, then, plays a special role in individual, existential empowerment, but this interpretation of the history of ideas as a power struggle does not amount to moral relativism, because writing can help us sustain a unique and constructive passion for the margins. (shrink)

Stereotypes within any society have consequences that are sometimes harmful and also affect targeted group of persons or ethnic group in a common way. One of the cultural stereotypes about Efik women is that they hardly believe in ‘…till death do us apart’ promised during monogamous marriage rite, that is, they walk out of marriage when conditions are unbearable. The misinterpretations of some exhortations given to the couples at Efik traditional marriage rite seem to support this claim. For example: ‘Eyen (...) mi nyamkkenyam, nnọ ke ndọ; ebot ebot edi unyam. Mm’ ifonke mendiyak, abang okubomo ikim okuwaha utong’. This exhortation is translated as: ‘I have not sold my child but given her to you in marriage; only goat is for sale. If she is no longer good for you bring her back. Let nothing malevolent happen to her.’ This implies that the life of one’s daughter is priced over marriage. One of the aims of this article is to investigate the context of this statement and how it has shaped people’s perception of marriage among the Efiks in Nigeria. In addition, this paper seeks to deconstruct some of the stereotypical views on Efik traditional marriage with regard to the female gender. Theories of Correspondent Inferences and Attribution in Social Psychology are used in understanding how women in Efik culture respond to marriage. Data from quantitative analysis of questionnaires and oral interviews threw more light on how cultural changes influence marriage institution among the Efiks. The findings of the research show that intermarriage, education, peer group influence, Western religious cultures, socio-economic conditions, etc., have necessitated the reconsideration of stereotypical views on marriage in Efik culture. (shrink)

The various ways whereby spatial conditions afford to monumentalize culture and to appropriate geographically demarcated places in terms of individual and collective meaning structures has been amply documented in urban cultural studies. However, considerably less attention has been paid to how cultural identity is produced against the background of musical temporality. By way of a phenomenological inquiry into the staged spectacle of James Corden’s (the host of CBS Network’s Late Late Show) Carpool Karaoke, this paper addresses the issues of directly (...) lived experience and authenticity as facets of cultural identity. By critically discussing the assumptions of self-presence and auto-affectivity while singing and listening to one’s sung voice against the background of pre-recorded songs, the notion of directly lived musical experience is put to the test. Furthermore, by examining the dramaturgical scaffolding of Carpool Karaoke, the analysis points to wider implications for post-modern cultural studies in terms of an identified ironic reversal of modernist universal criteria of legitimacy in favor of a celebration of postmodern being-with inauthentically. The analysis of the selected Carpool Karaoke corpus utilizes a resourceful blend of phenomenological method, semiotics and interpretive videography while challenging embedded orthodoxies in the extant literature. (shrink)

It is tempting to represent anthropology at home versus anthropology in exotic places like so: “Whereas the latter is obviously legitimate and of interest to the discipline, the former is a borderline phenomenon at best and no department could function with just it. It is probably parasitic.” This paper offers a deconstruction of this portrait, but not a spectacular one, in which anthropology at home is presented as essential for accountability.

This paper aims to deconstruct the concept of time from both a philosophical and logical standpoint. We challenge the notion that time is an inherent or fundamental property of the universe, particularly its elevation to a "fourth dimension" in modern physics. Instead, we propose that time is a mental construct—a referential framework devised by conscious beings to measure and make sense of change, much like directions (up, down, left, right) which have no inherent existence but serve to orient us in (...) space. By re-examining Einstein’s theory of relativity, the notion of 4D spacetime, and the illusion of temporal flow, we show that what we commonly refer to as “time dilation” or the “passage of time” are not phenomena of the universe itself, but differences in rates of change within systems. The usefulness of modeling time as a fourth dimension in calculations, such as GPS synchronization, comes at a massive ontological cost: it reifies a human invention as reality. Ultimately, this paper argues that the universe is timeless, and that all temporal descriptions are artifacts of human cognition and language, not of existence itself. (shrink)

This paper conducts a critical homologous analysis of two thought experiments spanning different eras: Blaise Pascal's "Wager" and Nick Bostrom's "Simulation Hypothesis." It argues that despite belonging to the domains of theology and philosophy of technology respectively, their arguments share a deep logical structure: they attempt to use formal systems (decision theory/probability theory) to provide rationally compelling answers to transcendent metaphysical questions such as "Does God exist?" and "Is reality real?". Through layered deconstruction, this paper argues that such attempts (...) are essentially a "hubris of reason" and systematically reveals their three fundamental fallacies: First, the fallacy of category, which mistakenly incorporates incommensurable qualitative choices (e.g., worldview commitment) into a quantitative calculation framework; Second, the unwarranted commitment, where the argument's impetus stems from premises (e.g., "infinite reward" or "vast number of simulations") that cannot be proven within their own framework, leading to logical circularity; Third, the logical susceptibility to abuse, whereby their empty argumentative forms can be used to "prove" any mutually contradictory absurd conclusion (as demonstrated by counterexamples like the "Flying Spaghetti Monster" and "recursive simulations"), resulting in theoretical self-annihilation. Ultimately, the paper concludes that these two arguments fail as probative tools, but their true legacy lies in using their own paradoxical nature to clearly demarcate the boundaries of reason when confronting ultimate concerns, prompting us to reconsider a more holistic and sincere path of philosophical inquiry that transcends utilitarian calculation and probabilistic speculation. (shrink)

A deconstruction of the implicit notion of Absolute space that dominates modern physics. The deconstruction is enacted by juxtaposing the common notion of Absolute space abstracted from Newton’s Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica with Levinas’ particular present treatment of space in Otherwise than Being: Or Beyond Essence.

What is reality? It is postmodern or poststructuralist philosophers like Roland Barthes, who realized that it only seems that the media present reality in the form of facts, because they actually spread myths. Accordingly, Jacques Derrida made it clear that communication via media is not based on logic, but is characterized by a significant “différance” between a “marque” (trace) of the past and the expectations of the future. Both agreed, that the initial misunderstanding of the concept of reality must be (...) uncovered or "deconstructed". This is more than necessary for them, because media, be it pictures or language, in truth convey values that are culturally and socially significant. They ‘iterate’ these values subliminally, because what shows up are only placeholders and thus mere forms (“structures of graphematic”) that are superficially realised as facts (“stereotypes”). In this way, according to Barthes, we all accept without question the values hidden behind them, so that they can gain a normative power that unconsciously guides our thinking, our decisions and our actions. Afterwards, it is Judith Butler who critically asked: How can we ever escape from this? Given the power of the subliminal dominant discourses, she saw the only effective solution “im Umdeuten” (in reinterpretation) of their subliminal values. In order to finally escape this “parasitic existence at the ritual”, the media philosopher Walter Benjamin already suggested to trigger "Chockwirkungen” (shock effects) in the viewer. It is the German painter Karin Kneffel, so it shall be shown, who has realized this with her series Fruits and Interiors in the most beautiful photorealistic strategy. (shrink)