ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the relationship between hermeneutics and French philosopher Jacques Derrida's deconstruction. Thinkers and critics influenced by Derrida have sometimes been dismissive of hermeneutics. Derrida himself refers to hermeneutics only rarely, usually taking it to mean the misguided desire to uncover the single correct reading of a text. Yet, Derrida's own comments on reading and his practice as a reader are not incompatible with hermeneutic positions. His conception of reading as ‘productive’, for example, is comparable to Gadamer's version of hermeneutic understanding. Following John Caputo's characterisation of ‘radical hermeneutics’, the chapter argues that Derridean deconstruction can be understood as an extreme form of hermeneutics, but hermeneutics nevertheless. This does not resolve the question of why Derrida himself showed little knowledge or interest in hermeneutics, despite his public debates with Gadamer and his close professional and personal relationship with Ricoeur. The chapter concludes with a reading of a short text by Derrida on Ricoeur, in which a complex interplay of hermeneutic insight and deconstructive deferral of meaning can be seen.
