Germs of Death
Author: Mauro Senatore
Publisher: SUNY Press
Published: 2018-02-20
Total Pages: 204
ISBN-13: 1438468474
DOWNLOAD EBOOKAn analysis of Derridas early work engaging Plato, Hegel, and the life sciences. Germs of Death explores the idea of genesis, or dissemination, in the early work of Jacques Derrida. Looking at Derridas published and unpublished work from Force and Signification in 1963 to Glas in 1974, Mauro Senatore traces the development of Derridas understanding of genesis both linguistically and biologically, and argues that this topic is an overlooked thread that draws together Derridas readings of Plato and Hegel. Demonstrating how Derridas analysis liberates the understanding of genesis from Platonic and Hegelian presupposition, Senatore also highlights Derridas engagement with the biological thought of his day. Senatore also shows that the implications of Derridas insights extend into contemporary ethical and political questions relating to postgenomic conceptions of life. Senatore here demonstrates with stunning insight, clarity, and economy that Derridas work of the 1960s and 70s needs to be understood as a radical critique or deconstruction of both the philosophical concept of life (from Plato to Hegel) and the prevailing biological model of heredity as a genetic program. It will be impossible henceforth to read Derrida on questions of the trace, dissemination, life, and so on, without coming to terms with the germs of death. Michael Naas, author of The End of the World and Other Teachable Moments: Jacques Derridas Final Seminar The book represents a major contribution to the field of Derrida studies and phenomenology, particularly its attention to the concept of genesis that formed the basis of Derridas earliest study of Husserl and the origin of his concept of writing. The unique contribution is the inclusion of the works from the periods of the mid-1970s, which have been neglected in the mainstream scholarship on Derrida. Gregg Lambert, author of Philosophy after Friendship: Deleuzes Conceptual Personae