Derrida's Of Grammatology: An Edinburgh Philosophical Guide

by Arthur T. Bradley

Everything you need to know about Derrida's Of Grammatology in one volume.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Language

184 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 2008

About the author

Events have made me who I am, neither a hardcore survivalist nor an all-trusting soul. I am a Boy Scout in the truest sense of the word—­dedicated to family, country, and good citizenship. As you may already know, an enabling element of those ideals is being prepared.

It took the horrific events of 9/11 to wake me from my routine complacency. In one single moment, I came to realize that our world is not as safe as we would all like to believe. We have no guarantee of safety in this world. Disasters occur on an almost daily basis all around the globe. Major events in recent years have included the devastating tsunamis striking Japan and the coast of Sumatra, the rash of tornadoes that swept across the U.S. in 2011, Hurricane Katrina, the deadly earthquake in Haiti, and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico to name just a few.

I believe with all my heart that we have a duty to prepare our families for the dangers they face. I started my preparation by reading nearly every disaster preparedness book currently available. If you check Amazon, you will see that I am the #1 reviewer for many of these books. Even with all the material out there, I could not find a single book that offered a complete, well-reasoned approach to practical preparedness. As a NASA engineer, I took up the challenge by conducting very careful research – disecting fact from folklore. Three years and many thousands of dollars later, I have finally released a handbook that offers well-researched advice that can be put into practice in the real world by normal families.

I wrote this handbook for my own family, but I would be honored to share it with yours. If you are not fully satisfied with the Handbook to Practical Disaster Preparedness for the Family, send it back, and I’ll refund your money, no questions asked.

Arthur T. Bradley, Ph.D.

Reviews

[Jonfaith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Twenty nine years ago I tackled Spivak’s imposing introduction to Derrida’s Of Grammatology. It required a few days and considerable head scratching. I truly felt accomplished upon completion. My progress in Derrida’s book conversely was negligible if one were being generous.

I was apprehensive about even this reader’s guide approach and discovered that the trepidation was grounded in reason. I believe I’ll soon read a specific essay in Derrida’s OG but all fancy of tackling the entire time is gone from my mind.

2.5 stars

[Nadosia Grey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is by far the best supplementation to Derrida's main ideas (you see what I did there). You could use this book to better understand Writing and Difference as well because many of the concepts carry over. It's written very well in an understandable way that makes Derrida's thoughts not so hard.

My only qualm might be with the closing remarks where Bradley states that Of Grammatology can never be fully interpreted--the possibilities for new readings of the book are endless. This sort of interpretive infinity argument has been seen in early New Critics and structuralists of the 60s and 70s. It's the antithesis of logical positivism where we can never fully know a text (hermenutically) and that our interpretation can yield different equally valid results each time. I don't know if this is possible or even if it's a more disguised form of logical positivism but I do find problems with it.

I'm definitely keeping this book around. In addition to summary and exegetical commentary on each chapter, there is a glossary of important terms.

[Salma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is by far THE most informative, interesting, and helpful guiding book I have read!

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Derrida's milestone work Of Grammatology is notoriously difficult for the unprepared. In just the first 76 pages, the reader must not only immerse in the depths of semiotics and post-structural language and overcome numerous Derrida's conceptual creations, but also travel through the new form of deconstruction itself. This is enough to scare off all but the determined reader, in spite of the importance and increasing relevance of Derrida's work.

Bradley's "Derrida's Of Grammatology" is a great solution. Providing a friendly iteration into Derrida's concepts and deconstruction form, Bradley's text comfortably provides the reader with the necessary tools and confidence to engage Derrida's work and survive.

For policy debaters who encounter Derrida, deconstruction and/or post-structural philosophy, Bradley's book should be on your "must read" shelf. All three areas are debated very poorly if you don't have the least understanding of these major thoughts (and it's terribly grating to see deconstruction so consistently misconceptualized). If you want to debate any of those critical categories as a pro, get and read Bradley's book. Then venture on to the real deal if you're ready for the challenge.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

An(other) laudable attempt to make Derrida accessible, in this case obviously via a presentation of one of his early and less obscure - as well as most influential - publications. Those adjectives all go together in a non-coincidental way - very roughly, his writing became more obscure as he became more influential, at which point the substance of the writing, as distinct from the often-atrociously-imitated style, became less influential, because, in a word, nobody could be bothered to work out what he was on about. And by nobody I mean me (or not-me, depending how you parse the negations).

Anyway, Arthur Bradley makes a brave stab at helping intellectual fainthearts get to grips with "Of Grammatology". He gets somewhere, but it has to be said that there's a lot of bluffing and what my analytical philosophy professors used to call hand-waving involved: that is, he moves from the JD text to the alleged implications or significance via chunks of bald assertion and waffle posing as explication and argument. This is par for the course in the field, though I think Peter Salmon's "An Event, Perhaps" does a better job of legitimately teasing things out. But on the plus side, this book does give some sense of what OG is all about, which seems to be close to the most one can expect in this sector.

Bradley's own writing is often shaky, with words and phrases misused, a tic of beginning a sentence with "quite simply" and "to put it simply" - especially striking in a book where the dangers of putting things simply are so foregrounded - and a habit of writing things like "to Derrida's way of thinking" and "for Rousseau" as if the subjects under discussion were the mental quirks of the writers. And so on. Minor points in a way, but it continues to surprise that writers supposedly interested in writing don't even read themselves carefully before publishing their books.

[John Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was taking a class that I mostly hated, but there was one assigned reading from Derrida that I found interesting. Politely trying to accentuate the positives, I mentioned this to the professor and I have been stuck with Derrida for nearly two years.

There is a recent biography called An Event, Perhaps by Pete Salmon which, with this book, provides something like a comprehensible view of Derrida's work. Salmon calls Of Grammatology a "gloriously bonkers book" which is a kind. Bradley's book sifts through the nonsense and provides clarity.

[Mike Mena · Rating 5 out of 5]

It does not matter how many different guides you buy for your attempt at Of Grammatology, THIS MUST BE ONE OF THEM. This will not totally explain everything, but it gives you a running start into the book. I suggest you pair this book with, perhaps, one more supplementary guide. Read this chapter-by-chapter with an additional guide book (like "Reading Of Grammatology" which was useful), and ALSO with Of Grammatology. One chapter at a time! I am certain you will understand Derrida's masterpiece if you go through this process. (Especially if you are relatively new to Derrida.)

[William Zeng · Rating 4 out of 5]

ok im sorry everybody i caved in because derrida is so hard to read :((((((