Central and East European
Society for Phenomenology

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146674

Desire in Derrida's given time

there is (es gibt) no gift outside the text

Jason Alvis

pp. 155-178

Abstract

This chapter takes the findings from chapter seven on Derrida's rejection of intentionality and desire from having a role in deconstruction and applies them to an interpretation of how he understands the gift in his ambiguously titled Given Time (Donner Le Temps). Given Time does not simply unfold how time is given, but is dedicated to showing how a gift can be given, given the parameters of time. The temporal dimensions of the gift demand that the gift be "impossible," and that any desiring or "intending to give" presupposes a future, which inhibits the arrival of the gift. As "the impossible," the gift cannot be desired because it is unconditionally beyond the possible, and in relation to the aporia, one experiences a tense profusion of desires for the seemingly opposite demands of gift and economy, which ends in indecision. The gift can be "at play" in time, but cannot happen as a result of the intent to give because the gift cannot be derivative of one's desire, which is reflective of past experiences. It is indeed not "the gesture that counts" when it comes to giving, for if anything, an act of generosity inhibits a gift's happening, which must take place beyond any conscious intending of any "subject."

Publication details

Published in:

Alvis Jason (2016) Marion and Derrida on the gift and desire: debating the generosity of things. Dordrecht, Springer.

Pages: 155-178

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-27942-8_6

Full citation:

Alvis Jason (2016) Desire in Derrida's given time: there is (es gibt) no gift outside the text, In: Marion and Derrida on the gift and desire, Dordrecht, Springer, 155–178.