What was Derrida describing?

[jolly]

"Derrida was DEscribing, not PREscribing."
 
 
 
The initiates and acolytes of critical theory rarely seem to bother themselves with quaint undergraduate philosophy issues such as the interaction of "mind" and body.  As those who have had to endure some Lit Crit. come to realize, Derrida launched his attack on logocentrism from Plato forwards.  There is, seemingly unknown to most Lit. Crit types,  a quite viable tradition of empiricism and materialism (from  Hobbes  to Darwin,. Marx, and behaviorism)  which is as opposed to platonism and idealism as are Derrida and existentialism.    Derrida claimed to be anti-platonic, but is he then a materialist?  He does not seem to clearly state his materialist position.  In fact, any decent marxist who still holds to traditional marxism and  historical materialism (and perhaps marxist allies working in behavioral science)  has as much reason to detest Derrida's "system"  as do logicians and scientists.  Not only did he move into phenomenology (certainly not a usual marxist field), but his
 methods seem quite a-historical, not to say unconcerned with  economics  as it is  usualy conceived of.  
 
Another thing--in cog, science researchers have for some time correlated brain areas and processes with mental activities and sensations,' the goal being to know the biochemical processes of particular thoughts and perceptions.  If Derrida is describing how a materialist consciousness functions then there should eventually be some cognitive evidence of his theory, some chemical processes associated with "intertextuality" or the arbitrariness of the sign,  etc;  If Derrida's account is viable, then eventually there should be sort of a neural map of  how  signs slip into signifiers and so on.  Is there anyone else around here that believes (as I do that) this is highly unlikely, even if the cog. science program is successful? Most present cog. science concepts are usually much more pertinent to computing or perhaps linguistics concepts ala Chomsky. I have not heard of some researcher locating a brain area that correlates with the perception of the "arbitrariness of the sign" or aporia
 or differance, or any other Derridean themes.    
     


		
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