The aporetic interweaving of relativity and relativism in Derrida’s thinking

Abstract

The connection between relativity and relativism both clarifies and is clarified by Derrida’s thinking. To show this, I shall first associate each term with compatible Derridean terms. “Economy”, “structure”, “problem” and “the possible”, related to relativity, match counterparts related to relativism, namely “aneconomy”, “freeplay”, “aporia” and “the impossible”. Next, the conjunction suspended between these constellations will be addressed by asking whether a Derridean account of this connection would be unambiguously antinomial, dialectical, or diacritical. These “logics” are worked through to show that Derrida’s thinking does not “fall from the sky” but remains in critical dialogue with the philosophical tradition. Derrida, however, uncovers the workings of another “logic” that acknowledges an inescapable paradox in the conjunction between relativity and relativism, to which one could assign the nickname “quasi-transcendental”.