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Of Grammatology by Jacques Derrida Summary

Of Grammatology
Jacques Derrida
5 (1 Reviews)
Philosophy
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Overview of Of Grammatology

Derrida's revolutionary "Of Grammatology" shattered Western philosophy by challenging speech's primacy over writing. This 1967 cornerstone of deconstruction theory transformed linguistics, literature, and cultural studies forever. What dangerous idea made academics both worship and fear this intellectual bombshell?

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Key takeaways

1

When Words Betray Themselves

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A philosopher walks into a library and discovers something unsettling: every book on the shelf contradicts itself at its foundation. Not through sloppy thinking, but through the very structure of language itself. This isn't the setup to a joke-it's the radical insight that transformed Jacques Derrida from an obscure French academic into one of the most influential (and controversial) thinkers of the twentieth century. His 1967 masterwork "Of Grammatology" reads like a philosophical detective story, tracking down a crime that's been hiding in plain sight for over two thousand years: Western philosophy's systematic privileging of speech over writing. But here's the twist-the crime scene reveals that the detective, the criminal, and the victim are all the same entity: language itself.

2

The Hierarchy That Shaped Civilization

3

The Trace: Where Meaning Lives and Dies

4

Speech Is Already Writing

5

The Dangerous Supplement

6

The Festival and the Fall

7

Living in the Ruins of Presence

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"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."

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"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."

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"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."

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"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."

@Matt, YC alum
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108

"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."

@Erin, Investment Banking Associate , NYC
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254
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17

"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."

@djmikemoore
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"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."

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