From: Gerald A. Levy (Gerald_A_Levy@MSN.COM)
Date: Thu Oct 14 2004 - 08:51:13 EDT
>>> Here is a letter to the Times about Derrida (and views of him) written by a number of scholars in response to the vapid obituary the times published. <<< Antonio, It is fascinating and somewhat puzzling from the standpoint of social psychology to ask _why_ Derrida has inspired so much venom and hatred from some quarters. Part of the answer might have something to do with a tradition of debate on the Left which often rests on the manufacture and reproduction of straw horses (and therefore may, in part, by disingenuous) but I think there is also an *irrational fear* at work here. The same could be said in general of many 'orthodox' Left reactions to post-modernism. If it could be said then that the bourgeoisie is haunted by specters of Marx, it might also be claimed that some portions of the Left will continue to be haunted by specters of Derrida! That is, when they are not otherwise haunted by specters of Bohm-Bawerk, von Bortkiewicz, and Sraffa! This is not to suggest that Derrida and post-modernism should not be subjected to critique -- and deconstruction (after all, one should deconstruct the deconstructors, right?) -- as Anders has attempted. So my comment above is directed at the 'Old Left' in general rather than Anders comments specifically. In solidarity, Jerry
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