Reflections on the visit of a philosopher

At an informal discussion session last week with Professor Jacques Derrida (left) are Centre for Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies students Peter Mathews and Craig Prebble.

Professor Jacques Derrida's visit to Monash last week was an unprecedented success, according to Monash professor of comparative literature and English Professor Kevin Hart.

Professor Hart said he could never have anticipated the intense interest that Professor Derrida's long-planned and much-awaited visit would generate.

Professor Derrida, said to be the world's most famous living philosopher, is currently director of studies at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris and professor at the University of California, Irvine, in the US. He is known as the founding figure of the theory of deconstruction.

According to Professor Hart, over the past 30 years Professor Derrida's work has influenced numerous disciplines at universities around the world including comparative literature, social theory, political theory, law, sexuality, race, religion, art, architecture, mass media, philosophy and psychoanalysis.

"The work of Professor Derrida constitutes a challenge to the very assumptions informing the ideas and institutions of our culture," Professor Hart said.

His visit provided Monash students and staff with a number of opportunities, both formal and informal, to hear him explain his work and to question him about his theories.

The lecture on Friday 6 August on the topic 'Forgiving the unforgivable' filled the 500-seat Alexander Theatre to capacity, with demand for seats far exceeding availability.

The following Monday, academic staff were given the opportunity to pose questions to Professor Derrida after his seminar on 'The future of the profession or the university without condition ...'.

The visit received wide media coverage, in newspapers, radio and television.