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The Différance that Makes All the Difference: A Comparison of Derrida and Śaṅkara
- Philosophy East and West
- University of Hawai'i Press
- Volume 61, Number 2, April 2011
- pp. 247-259
- 10.1353/pew.2011.0026
- Article
- Additional Information
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This essay compares Śaṅkara and Jacques Derrida on the issue of difference. This hermeneutical dialogue compares the two thinkers with respect to the following items: différance and nonduality; presence and trace; being and alterity; and truth, meaning, and reality. This essay intends to compare Śaṅkara and Derrida on what the latter calls différance because it is a central notion in his postmodern philosophy, whereas nondualism is stressed by the former philosopher. Therefore, this comparison engages two philosophies that move in completely different directions.