The Problem of Genesis in Husserl's Philosophy

by Jacques Derrida, Marian Hobson (Translator)

Derrida's first book-length work, The Problem of Genesis in Husserl's Philosophy, was originally written as a dissertation for his diplôme d'études supérieures in 1953 and 1954. Surveying Husserl's major works on phenomenology, Derrida reveals what he sees as an internal tension in Husserl's central notion of genesis, and gives us our first glimpse into the concerns and frustrations that would later lead Derrida to abandon phenomenology and develop his now famous method of deconstruction.For Derrida, the problem of genesis in Husserl's philosophy is that both temporality and meaning must be generated by prior acts of the transcendental subject, but transcendental subjectivity must itself be constituted by an act of genesis. Hence, the notion of genesis in the phenomenological sense underlies both temporality and atemporality, history and philosophy, resulting in a tension that Derrida sees as ultimately unresolvable yet central to the practice of phenomenology.Ten years later, Derrida moved away from phenomenology entirely, arguing in his introduction to Husserl's posthumously published Origin of Geometry and his own Speech and Phenomena that the phenomenological project has neither resolved this tension nor expressly worked with it. The Problem of Genesis complements these other works, showing the development of Derrida's approach to phenomenology as well as documenting the state of phenomenological thought in France during a particularly fertile period, when Levinas, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, Ricoeur, and Tran-Duc-Thao, as well as Derrida, were all working through it. But the book is most important in allowing us to follow Derrida's own development as a philosopher by tracing the roots of his later work in deconstruction to these early critical reflections on Husserl's phenomenology."A dissertation is not merely a prerequisite for an academic job. It may set the stage for a scholar's life project. So, the doctoral dissertations of Max Weber and Jacques Derrida, never before available in English, may be of more than passing interest. In June, the University of Chicago Press will publish Mr. Derrida's dissertation, The Problem of Genesis in Husserl's Philosophy, which the French philosopher wrote in 1953-54 as a doctoral student, and which did not appear in French until 1990. From the start, Mr Derrida displayed his inventive linguistic style and flouting of convention."—Danny Postel, Chronicle of Higher Education

Genres: Philosophy

232 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 1992

About the author

Jacques Derrida was a French philosopher best known for developing deconstruction, a method of critical analysis that questioned the stability of meaning in language, texts, and Western metaphysical thought. Born in Algeria, he studied at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, where he was influenced by philosophers such as Heidegger, Husserl, and Levinas. His groundbreaking works, including Of Grammatology (1967), Writing and Difference (1967), and Speech and Phenomena (1967), positioned him at the center of intellectual debates on language, meaning, and interpretation.
Derrida argued that Western philosophy was structured around binary oppositions—such as speech over writing, presence over absence, or reason over emotion—that falsely privileged one term over the other. He introduced the concept of différance, which suggests that meaning is constantly deferred and never fully present, destabilizing the idea of fixed truth. His work engaged with a wide range of disciplines, including literature, psychoanalysis, political theory, and law, challenging conventional ways of thinking and interpretation.
Throughout his career, Derrida continued to explore ethical and political questions, particularly in works such as Specters of Marx (1993) and The Politics of Friendship (1994), which addressed democracy, justice, and responsibility. He held academic positions at institutions such as the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales and the University of California, Irvine, and remained an influential figure in both European and American intellectual circles. Despite criticism for his complex writing style and abstract concepts, Derrida’s ideas have left a lasting impact on contemporary philosophy, literary theory, and cultural criticism, reshaping the way meaning and language are understood in the modern world.

Reviews

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought that by reading this early student work by Derrida I might get some handy insights into his later work. I still think that might be true, though I would have to read a load of Husserl, Kant, Frege, et al. as well to get much out of it. (I read the 'Voice & Phenomena' translations decades ago, and had the feeling of more or less understanding the Husserl-related stuff in there, but I could well have been mistaken.) There are in fact quite clear prefigurings here, as it would be surprising if there weren't; but for the non-scholar JD fan, well, let's just say for me, I'm not sure how helpful they are. In any case, I think it's fair to say this is not a recommended beach read. If you happen to be immortal though, I do urge you to spend a few decades on this.

PS: So I've just discovered that Goodreads has a pretty crummy flaw: apparently if you read a book in the original language and in translation that's considered one book - which seems a crappy. So I make comments on Marian Hobson's translation and they're included in reviews of the French text? Well, sorry about this then: although I read neither book in full (far from it!), I had thought I'd read them in parallel, with the English as an aid and/or with the French to check bits of the English that read as dodgy. Anyway, I think it's a pretty serviceable translation on the whole, quite literalist (which I like) - I seem to remember there were a couple of places where she seemed to have mistranslated a word or used a gallicism unnecessarily. It doesn't read like normal English, but then, it really couldn't while being a translation of the Derrida text.