Reiterating the Differences: A Reply to Derrida

Introduction

A short reply printed in 1977 in the first issue of the journal Glyph, directly after the English translation of Derrida’s “Signature Event Context”, which had criticised J. L. Austin’s theory of speech acts. Searle argues that Derrida misreads Austin: setting aside “parasitic” utterances, such as lines spoken on stage, is a methodological step, not a metaphysical exclusion, and the fact that every sign can be repeated (“iterability”) does not undermine the role of intentions in communication. Derrida answered with Limited Inc a b c …; when the exchange was collected as a book in 1988, Searle refused permission to reprint his text. The quarrel is often cited as an emblem of the split between analytic and continental philosophy.

Connections

Responds to

• Signature Event Context1971 · Jacques Derrida

Answered in

• Limited Inc a b c …1977 · Jacques Derrida

More works by John Searle

• 1969Speech Acts
• 1980Minds, Brains, and Programs (The Chinese Room)

Appears in

• Journey ‘The Linguistic Turn’ · Stop 9 of 10