Jacques Derrida’s Faith in Democracy
Michael Naas, “Jacques Derrida’s Faith in Democracy,” Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 81, no. 1–2 (2025): 439–60, https://doi.org/10.17990/RPF/2025_81_1_0439.
Michael Naas, “Jacques Derrida’s Faith in Democracy,” Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 81, no. 1–2 (2025): 439–60, https://doi.org/10.17990/RPF/2025_81_1_0439.
| Item Type | Journal Article |
|---|---|
| Author | Michael Naas |
| Abstract | This essay revisits Derrida’s Rogues in light of contemporary political developments, particularly the erosion of democratic norms in the United States. It explores Derrida’s notion of “democracy to come” and its intrinsic autoimmunity—the paradox whereby democracy preserves itself by limiting itself, even at the risk of its own destruction. Through sustained engagement with Derrida’s concepts of sovereignty, law, ipseity, and the event, the analysis argues that democracy’s openness to critique, transformation, and the unforeseeable future makes it both the most fragile and the most ethically compelling political form. Rather than affirming democracy as a fixed ideal, the essay emphasizes its constitutive indeterminacy and historicity. Concepts such as différance and khōra ground a philosophical faith in democracy—not as a realized system, but as a performative and ever-deferred promise of justice, beyond sovereignty and beyond salvation. |
| Date | 2025 |
| Language | English |
| Rights | © 2025 by Aletheia - Associação Científica e Cultural |
| Volume | 81 |
| Pages | 439-460 |
| Publication | Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia |
| DOI | 10.17990/RPF/2025_81_1_0439 |
| Issue | 1-2 |
| Journal Abbr | RPF |
| ISSN | 0870-5283 ; 2183-461X |
| Date Added | 5/2/2025, 4:39:55 PM |
| Modified | 5/2/2025, 5:10:11 PM |
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Naas, Michael. “One Good Turn….: Aristotle, Derrida, and the ‘Peaceful Transfer of Power’ in Democracy.” In Reading Continental Philosophy and the History of Thought, 171-189. Edited by Christian Lotz and Antonio Calcagno. Rowman & Littlefield, 2024.