ABSTRACT
It should be clear by now why Derrida attaches such importance to the task of freeing structuralism from Saussure’s phonocentric approach. The human voice is the ultimate sanction of all philosophies – like that of Rousseau – which base themselves more or less explicitly on a metaphysics of origins and presence. Among Derrida’s first published works was a book on Husserl (Speech and Phenomena 1973) in which he examined the claim that philosophy could provide indubitable grounds for knowledge through a rigorous, self-critical reflection on the a priori modes of thought and judgement. Edmund Husserl (d. 1938) was the founder of modern phenomenology, a movement of thought to which Derrida is much indebted, although his debt takes the form (as usual) of a thorough critique and re-writing of its premisses. I shall later have various detailed points to make about this crucial encounter, in which Derrida prepares the ground for his deconstructive project. At this point, however, it may be more useful to state the central issue in terms of my discussion so far.
