The Animal That Therefore I Am
2/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
The Animal That Therefore I Am is the long-awaited translation of the complete text of Jacques Derrida’s ten-hour address to the 1997 Cérisy conference entitled “The Autobiographical Animal,” the third of four such colloquia on his work. The book was assembled posthumously on the basis of two published sections, one written and recorded session, and one informal recorded session.
The book is at once an affectionate look back over the multiple roles played by animals in Derrida’s work and a profound philosophical investigation and critique of the relegation of animal life that takes place as a result of the distinction—dating from Descartes—between man as thinking animal and every other living species. That starts with the very fact of the line of separation drawn between the human and the millions of other species that are reduced to a single “the animal.” Derrida finds that distinction, or versions of it, surfacing in thinkers as far apart as Descartes, Kant, Heidegger, Lacan, and Levinas, and he dedicates extended analyses to
the question in the work of each of them.
The book’s autobiographical theme intersects with its philosophical analysis through the figures of looking and nakedness, staged in terms of Derrida’s experience when his cat follows him into the bathroom in the morning. In a classic deconstructive reversal, Derrida asks what this animal sees and thinks when it sees this naked man. Yet the experiences of nakedness and shame also lead all the way back into the mythologies of “man’s dominion over the beasts” and trace a history of how man has systematically displaced onto the animal his own failings or bêtises.
The Animal That Therefore I Am is at times a militant plea and indictment regarding, especially, the modern industrialized treatment of animals. However, Derrida cannot subscribe to a simplistic version of animal rights that fails to follow through, in all its implications, the questions and definitions of “life” to which he returned in much of his later work.
Jacques Derrida
Christopher Small (1927–2011) was a senior lecturer at Ealing College of Higher Education in London until 1986 and lived in Sitges, Spain, until his death.
Read more from Jacques Derrida
Writing and Difference Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Animal That Therefore I Am Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDissemination Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5For Strasbourg: Conversations of Friendship and Philosophy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Gift of Death, Second Edition & Literature in Secret Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Copy, Archive, Signature: A Conversation on Photography Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHeidegger, Philosophy, and Politics: The Heidelberg Conference Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Politics of Friendship Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Geschlecht III: Sex, Race, Nation, Humanity Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThinking Out of Sight: Writings on the Arts of the Visible Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMusic, Society, Education Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Christopher Small Reader Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Problem of Genesis in Husserl's Philosophy Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Related to The Animal That Therefore I Am
Related ebooks
Poetics of History: Rousseau and the Theater of Originary Mimesis Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCopy, Archive, Signature: A Conversation on Photography Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Community of Those Who Have Nothing in Common Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ego Sum: Corpus, Anima, Fabula Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDivinanimality: Animal Theory, Creaturely Theology Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What Is Philosophy? Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Greening of Art: Shifting Positions Between Art and Nature Since 1965 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPhilosophical Chronicles Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The End of the World and Other Teachable Moments: Jacques Derrida's Final Seminar Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDerrida and Our Animal Others: Derrida's Final Seminar, the Beast and the Sovereign Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5On the Sublime and Beautiful Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJohn Dewey and the Artful Life: Pragmatism, Aesthetics, and Morality Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReading with John Clare: Biopoetics, Sovereignty, Romanticism Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrom Life to Survival: Derrida, Freud, and the Future of Deconstruction Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPhilosophy and Melancholy: Benjamin's Early Reflections on Theater and Language Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Event of Postcolonial Shame Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDerrida From Now On Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Meaning of Truth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Passing Time: An Essay on Waiting Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Since Cézanne Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBenjamin Fondane's Ulysses: Bilingual Edition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsODE TO A NIGHTINGALE Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA New Philosophy: Henri Bergson Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Avant Canada: Poets, Prophets, Revolutionaries Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhat Is Real? Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Expectation: Philosophy, Literature Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Living Thought: The Origins and Actuality of Italian Philosophy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPosterity: Inventing Tradition from Petrarch to Gramsci Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsZionism and Melancholy: The Short Life of Israel Zarchi Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHuman Rights as a Way of Life: On Bergson's Political Philosophy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Philosophy For You
The Little Book of Stoicism: Timeless Wisdom to Gain Resilience, Confidence, and Calmness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bhagavad Gita (in English): The Authentic English Translation for Accurate and Unbiased Understanding Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Daily Stoic: A Daily Journal On Meditation, Stoicism, Wisdom and Philosophy to Improve Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fear: Essential Wisdom for Getting Through the Storm Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bhagavad Gita Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tao Te Ching: A New English Version Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of Loving Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Allegory of the Cave Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Course in Miracles: Text, Workbook for Students, Manual for Teachers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Complete Papyrus of Ani Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Inward Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Buddha's Guide to Gratitude: The Life-changing Power of Everyday Mindfulness Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mindfulness in Plain English: 20th Anniversary Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Experiencing God (2021 Edition): Knowing and Doing the Will of God Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tao Te Ching: Six Translations Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lessons of History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Meditations: Complete and Unabridged Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Republic by Plato Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Courage to Be Happy: Discover the Power of Positive Psychology and Choose Happiness Every Day Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5No Man Is an Island Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Brain Training with the Buddha: A Modern Path to Insight Based on the Ancient Foundations of Mindfulness Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Denial of Death Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Animal That Therefore I Am
1 rating0 reviews