ABSTRACT
Jacques Derrida's essay 'The Ends of Man' was first presented in the fall of 1968 as a lecture at a colloquium dealing with 'Philosophy and Anthropology'. Among authors exemplifying the outlook, Derrida mentions such idealists as Brunschvig and the leading existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre. Returning from a brief review of relevant literature, Derrida draws attention to his own writings on the topic of democracy starting around 1990, particularly to The Other Heading and Sauf le Nom. Derrida invokes the legacy of Friedrich Nietzsche, a thinker portrayed as the icon of super-deconstruction, as the one rupturing all forms of proximity and traditional humanism. A post-humanist praxis — including democratic praxis — requires a correction of the imbalance. The line can be extended further to a certain kind of democracy, namely, the 'unavowed political theology' of the 'sovereignty of the people' or democratic sovereignty.
