DoubleBubble, Derrida

Derrida explains the concept of Difference. He emphasizes that meaning is not in the signifier itself, but that it only exists within our networks with a relation to other things. Derrida relates this concept to deSaussure and his concept of the relationship between the signifier and the signified. This relationship is arbitrary and showed that signs only mean in relation to each other. Within this article, Derrida quotes deSaussure, “Even more important: a difference generally implies positive terms between which the difference is set up; but in language there are only differences without positive terms” (127). Here Derrida emphasizes this whole idea about how the meaning behind something is not within the signifier but instead within this idea of network and the relations to other things within these networks.

Différance comes before being. This throws the idea of "origin," of true original meaning, into radical question. Derrida begins to discuss the idea of origin of something, there is nothing that has it’s own identity. This idea that Derrida discusses goes into further detail of what deSaussure had already discussed. Anything within society is itself; it depends on other things in order to explain itself. Nothing stands outside the system of differences.

Derrida then begins to combine the sense of difference as time and also as space. He does this in order to make a point of how the ideas of presence or being that our Western Culture has been focusing around are actually not so trustworthy. Within a sign the meaning is actually not there and instead signs are referring to another sign and how this idea has made us grasp the idea of speech over writing through the idea of presence as trustworthy. The shaky grounds of understanding presence as our being relates to the idea of self-presence, which is consciousness.