Derrida and Zen: Desert and Swamp

By comparing D. T. Suzuki’s soku-hi 即非 (lit. immediately not) logic (A is A, because A is not-A), which is connatural with what might be called the “Japanese swamp/womb sensibility,” to the desert and nomadic concepts of Derrida’s deconstruction, this essay argues that, contrary to some critics’ views, Suzuki’s soku-hi logic accords with Derrida’s thinking.