We, humans, are remarkably flexible beings. Sometimes, we surprise even ourselves if we pay attention. For example, take Jacques Derrida's idea of deconstruction. As a way of thinking, it takes a settled meaning we accept as true and dismantles it to show how inherently arbitrary any one such interpretation is. In other words, its opposite …
What do philosophers mean when they talk about deconstruction? This concept is rather simpler than it might sound. It is associated with the 20th-century philosopher Jacques Derrida who introduced it as a notion describing a way of thinking. What sort of thinking? Have a listen to this interesting short video and find out about some …
Continue reading Spreading the Word: What is Deconstruction?
The 20th-century German mathematician-turned-philosopher Edmund Husserl was the principal founder of the philosophical school and method of Phenomenology. His works are still actively studied today and he is considered one of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century. One way of approaching the vast phenomenon that is phenomenology (pun intended), is to explore the …
Continue reading Spreading the Word: Phenomenology of Edmund Husserl
In this week's "Spreading the Word", I share with you a podcast episode. It is one of BBC's In Our Time podcast. The topic of discussion is the so-called continental-analytic split in philosophy. I learned about the existence of such split only very recently and have been trying to find a good, comprehensive explanation of …
Continue reading Spreading the Word: Continental vs Analytic Philosophy
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