Derrida, Jacques. Speech and Phenomena, and Other Essays on Husserl’s Theory of Signs. Translated by David B. Allison. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1973. Newer translation: Derrida, Jacques. Voice and Phenomenon: Introduction to the Problem of the Sign in Husserl’s Phenomenology. Translated by Leonard Lawlor. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 2010.

In Speech and Phenomena (Allison translation) or Voice and Phenomenon (Lawlor translation), Jacques Derrida situates the philosophy of language in relation to logic and rhetoric, which have often been seen as irreconcilable criteria for the use and interpretations of signs. His critique of Husserl attacks the position that language is founded on logic rather than on rhetoric; instead, he claims, meaningful language is limited to expression because expression alone conveys sense. Derrida’s larger project is to confront phenomenology with the tradition it has so often renounced — the tradition of Western metaphysics.

Online:
Amazon