Derrida's archive and legacy to education
Between past and future
pp. 115-134
in: Paul Smeyers (ed), International handbook of philosophy of education, Berlin, Springer, 2018Abstract
An examination of Derrida's "constant preoccupation" with the archive, a theme he developed in most of his texts, reveals the recurring paradox underlying the tension between being both faithful and unfaithful to our legacy, our heritage - one example of aporia, of the condition of possibility as being dependent on the simultaneous necessity of a condition of impossibility. In the context of reading Derrida and focusing on his legacy, calling for an engagement of his form of reasoning and analyzing with educational issues, I propose to consider two of our most critical current educational challenges: the closing of philosophy programs and humanities at all levels, and the commodification of education under the pressure of the corporate model and money market. In the last section, I discuss two concepts fundamental in all of Derrida's texts and in education which offer philosophers of education some powerful paradigms for a deeper understanding of those issues at stake in education: aporia, paradox and the responsibility they entail; and the related concept of à venir, to-come and its promise. "If someone knew nothing about Derrida," and we could retain only one thing from his legacy, it would be the significance and necessity of our philosophical heritage, and the importance not to simply keep its memory, but to question its teachings.
