Derrida: I gain more knowledge from a bag of chips
"Where and how does this decentering, this notion of the structurality fo structure, occur?" (Derrida 355).
I got nothing from this article. I hate to say it, but intellectually i wasted my time reading this, I have tried twice now to figure out what this man was trying to say, and have nothing. If anyone can help me out please do.
I've posted this on Bethany's blog as well. Hope it helps:
While there is much I still don't understand about Derrida, I think his main point is simply to prove that every text, every argument we might come up with, every symbol we might create, can be deconstructed (even his own!). This ability arises from the nature of language: as humans, we are completely dependent upon language--we cannot express our thoughts in any other way; however, the system of language is inconstant, and this inconsistency undermines any center we might try to create within the system. Instead, all we are left with is a "field of freeplay" where there is no finite meaning, no determined "center". Thus, in the absence of a solid foundation, we cannot create texts with a sturdy meaning, we cannot ever really know the truth, for we don't have a sound starting point for our search; all we have is language, which is faulted, thus our answers will be faulted as well.
If you find this depressing, please see Greta's blog and the comments below.
Also, I highly suggest taking a look at Angela's and Erica's blogs + comments.