The Story of Jacques Derrida

Jacques Derrida, a marginal Jew, experienced in his life exclusion, marginalization, oppression and rejection. Primarily, his philosophy of deconstruction aimed to give concrete solution to his own personal political problems. From his own personal experiences, his philosophy gave hope to redeem the humanity from the clutches of the evil hunting the society. It is earthy philosophy as it interacts and interrupts with the everyday happenings. It starts rooting out evils from the heart of human being. It is for this very reason that it proceeds with love. Derrida, through his deconstruction commenced the journey of reality from the rigidity of the structures to the flexibility within the structures and from abstract to concrete to prove that philosophy is an autonomous discipline as it deals with everyday experiences. Human beings are always on the move to discover the truth and validity of their experiences. In this sense, deconstruction is another name for the infinite openness to affirm the dynamism and evolutionary nature of every reality. In other words, it is the constant uncovering of the different layers constructed by human thinking.

The Story of Philosophy

Philosophy from a deconstruction point of view is the story of evolution, a story of reality as mysterious, a story of reform, a story of new order, a story of small narratives, a story of small philosophies, a story of knowledge as process and a story for the Other. The best example of deconstruction in Greek philosophy is found in the philosophy of Plato. Plato, through his philosophy deconstructed the Parmenidian view of ‘permanence’ and Heraclutian view of ‘change’. On the one hand, Parmenides held the view that being is and all things are, all the differences between the things exist. Thus, everything is permanent. On the other hand, Heraclitus held the view that everything is in the constant flux of change. Thus, for him nothing remains permanent. Plato deconstructs both the views by arguing that they both exist in every being through his theory of truth and opinion. For him Being is and Being becomes. 

The Story of Christianity

Christianity from deconstruction point of view Christianity from postmodern point of view is the story of marginal people, a story of sinners, a story of disbelief in God, a story of suffering humanity, a story of fleeing from God, a story of infidelity, a story of decentralization of power, a story of service, a story of Poor God and Rich People, a story of victims, a story of concern for the other, a story of faith, a story of commitment and a story of life-giving. I would like to supplement the above with two examples of deconstruction one taken from Old Testament (Deconstruction of Ethics) while the other is from New Testament (Deconstruction of Justice). The Old Testament portrays clearly Abraham as the father of Christian faith. The act of Abraham sacrificing his own son is paradoxical because it is guided neither by reason nor by an ethics justifiable before human beings or before the law of some universal tribunal.In other words, it is the deconstruction of morality and immorality and responsibility and irresponsibility.It is the absolute duty which demands that one should behave in an irresponsible manner while still recognizing, confirming and reaffirming the very thing one sacrifices, namely the order of human ethics and responsibility. In a word, ethics must be sacrificed in the name of duty. In other words, he went beyond the laws and ethics of his time in sacrificing his own son and his only son for God In the Gospel of St Mark, Jesus deconstructs justice by affirming that the laws are meant to enhance and further human life. The statement of Jesus ‘The Sabbath was made for human being and not human being for Sabbath,’ is a clear deconstruction of the law which will pave way to justice in the world. The Pharisees obeyed the law blindly and expected an identical response to the law from others as well. Jesus claims to the autonomy of human being to invoke the law as the context requires it. In other words, Jesus desires unstoppable creative efforts to interpret the law.

Cultural Quotient

According to philosophy of existentialism, human being is thrown in the world to create his own self. I would go further and affirm that human being is thrown into the culture and is brought and shaped by that culture. The culture of the person influences every aspect such as attitudes, behaviour, dealings, relationship, language, reasoning and so on. In other words, there is no particular trait that is not touched by culture. What a person is or makes him/her self of is due to cultural background. What is acquired through culture, according to me, is always natural. As for example, if a person is brought up in a culture where there are thieves, for such a person stealing is natural.

                Thinking differently, culture is the dominant narrative in the life and existence of human being. No human being can escape culture. In other words, the way we are now, the way we were, the way we will be is all determined by culture. For example, if a Pumpkin at its inception is put in a bottle, it will grow to the length and breadth of the size of that bottle.

            All human beings are without exception are culturally determined beings. It is a gift that each one of us received no matter where we are and what we are. On the other way around, no one desires a particular culture, but my birth in a particular culture will with me until my death.  What is important for me is that each of us has a culture and a capacity to addict to different cultures to survive in order to create human self. 

Method or/and Mission of Philosophy

The purpose of philosophical enquiry is to pursue and understand life and life situations. As such, it stems from the experience with/in the world. Further, it attempts to understand the fundamental and most significant human activities by inquiring into their very nature and essence. Thus, philosophy is an activity that aims at understanding the principles that lie behind various aspects of life. It is then, a human task and responsibility. It develops in each age ideas and values, based on the preceding age, sometimes by way of rejection and change, and sometimes by conformity and development.  The philosophies and philosophers of every age consider the problems that are important and relevant to human being directly or indirectly by taking a critical approach towards reality. It is in this framework, every age has produced a philosophy and a philosopher that is relevant to the age: Ancient philosophers started their quest for discovering the cause for the origin of the universe, medieval philosophers turned their attention to God, the modern philosopher focused on reason and human person and contemporary philosophers paid attention to the Self.

            The Question that struck me was, Do we need a method to Philosophize? Is it possible to do philosophy spontaneously without any method? It is no doubt that arriving at philosophy through a particular and specific method will make philosophy rich and handy. Hence, through a method, philosophy can be made contextual. According to me the task of philosophy does not end here.

            But, going a step further, as a budding philosopher I believe that my concern should be how to influence the lives of the other with the particular philosophy. In other words, philosophy is a mission to be taken to the people who do not value philosophy although they are bound by particular philosophies. 

Conscious and Unconscious

The psychology did not emerge as a separate science until the late 1800s, although its earliest history can be traced back to the time of early Greeks. Psychology as a separate science utilizes scientific methodologies to study and draw conclusions about human thought and behaviour which are conscious and unconscious. In other words, the psychologists are at war between conscious and unconscious pattern of behaviour.

                Some psychologists especially William James agree that the human being is what he/she is due to his conscious action. Then, it involves always a choice and negation. When human being is conscious, he/she chooses the convinced behaviour to behave in such and such a way. In other words, I know what I am doing when I am doing. But psychology adds to it a little further and says how a mind works in the living of actual desired behaviour.

                While other psychologists especially Sigmund Freud hold that ‘Today’s human being is the cause of Yesterday’s action.’ In other words, it is the unconscious mind that dictates how a person behaves because they hold that unconscious motives are central in present behaviour patterns and actions.

                In conclusion, what I believe is, it is ultimately human being who creates his/her life consciously and thus it is always a choice of desired needs. In as much as the choices in life are made consciously, the behaviour of human being is convinced behaviour springing from the heart but in combination with the head. At the end, I believe in a psychology that makes human being aware of his/her own actions.

Understanding is an Art

A piece of art ongoingly unfolds meanings. From this perspective, every time one looks at the work of art, it gives different shades of meanings and opens itself to other meanings without restriction and enclosing itself. In order to understand and to arrive at the famous figures in the history, we cannot follow a set of fixed principles through which we can conclude that person is such and such. In other words, there cannot be absolutized understanding and interpretation of the person.

In my opinion, and going along with Schleiermacher, the person of history is better known through the art than science. It means that a person’s life is opened to varied variety of interpretations, understanding and meaning as per the context and culture of interpretor, meaning-giver and understander. In other words, no interpretor can claim that his/her interpretation and understanding is absolute and it alone is true. It can be possible that one intepretor may not accept or agree with the interpretation of the other. But, what must be remembered is that every interpretation unfolds a new meaning and reveals a degree of truth. In other words, it only reveals a partial truth and not comprehensive truth.

I am also aware and acknowledge that art suffers from many pitfalls such as; no guiding rules, relativism, individualistic opinion, and so on. But what is interesting in understanding from the perspective of art is that it gives freedom to arrive at meaning as per the needs and demands of the context. 

Immaculate Conception and Significance for the Saliesian

The Dogma of the Immaculate Conception was declared on December 8, 1854 by Pope Pius XII. Immaculate Conception is a doctrine that affirms that God preserved the Virgin Mary from the taint of original sin from the moment she was conceived.

Immaculate Mary and Her Significance for Don Bosco

           Don Bosco honored Mary under two titles: Mary as Immaculate and Help of Christians. For Don Bosco, Mary was more than an object of veneration.  Mary was for him a living person.  He felt her presence in every moment of his life. He emulated in her the virtue of sensitivity, her obedience to the will of God, and her commitment and fidelity at the hour of the cross. From the very beginning of his life, she showed him the way, inspired his actions, sustained his strength and helped him to obtain his purpose, even in extraordinary ways.  In his Spiritual Testament to his Salesians, Don Bosco wrote, “The Blessed Virgin will certainly continue to protect our congregation and our Salesian works if we maintain our trust in her and promote devotion to her.”

           He had a deep devotion to Immaculate Mary so much so that one of the issues of “The Catholic Reading” edited by him was devoted to writings on Her. In this booklet he summed up his devotion to the Immaculate Conception under three points; 1) Mary is the Holiest of all creatures 2) Mary is the mother of God 3) Mary is our mother

Mary is the Holiest of all creatures: In the gospel of St Luke, Angel Gabriel calls her ‘Full of grace.’ From the first moment of her existence she was without original sin and she remained so to her last breath. Being full of grace her heart was pure and without flaw, nor was there a single virtue which Mary did not possess. The Catholic Church proclaims the holiness of Mary by maintaining that she has always been free of sin. Thus, we are invited to call her: O Queen conceived without original sin, pray for us.

Mary is the Mother of God: Mary was adorned with all the imaginable virtues and enriched by God with grace above any other creature on earth. Because of these qualities, she was chosen above all other women to be raised to the dignity of Mother of God. Christians greet her everyday as echoed by St Elizabeth when visited by the Holy Virgin: Holy Mary, Mother of God, Pray for us. At the sound of the glorious title, ‘Mother of God’ we know that there is no one endowed with greater glory, and therefore there is no one who has more influence with god than Mary.

Mary is our Mother: If the title ‘Mother of God’ is so glorious for Mary, it is all the more glorious and beneficial for us who redeemed by Jesus Christ, become her children and brothers of her divine son. Hence, having become the mother of Jesus, true God and true man, she also became our mother. The gospel confirms that Jesus Christ in his great mercy wanted to call us his brothers and make us the adopted children of Mary. When the divine saviour nailed to the cross, suffered the most painful agony, this most Holy Mother and the apostle John were at His feet in deepest sorrow: Jesus opened his eyes, perhaps for the last time, saw the beloved disciple and his loving mother. Dying, he said to Mary: Woman, behold your son. Then he spoke to John, ‘Behold your mother.”

The Significance of Immaculate Conception for the Salesian Today

            In the case of our mothers, we don’t imitate but we literally follow them. It should be the same with Mother Mary. Like Don Bosco we firmly believe that Mary is present in all our activities as a Mother, that She always comes to our aid when deeply in trouble and especially in times of discouragement. In many of his dreams, Mary appeared to Don Bosco as a loving mother. She is a mother who looks after the needs of all works and provides us with financial and spiritual help. Mary takes care of all the boys in the community and protects them from all the dangers of life. As an example, we see Mary’s care for the boys of Don Bosco in his Dream of the Elephant.  There is an elephant in the playground and the boys are unaware of the danger.  Mary notices it and she shouts to the boys to come under her mantle – Mary not only calls the boys, she shouts, she is exhausted from shouting, she is red in the face and out of breath, says the dream.

            I would like to conclude with the encouraging advice of Don Bosco to us Salesians, ‘The God of mercy and his Holy Mother came to our help in our needs.  This was especially true when it was a case of providing for poor and abandoned boys, and even more when their souls were in danger.’  As we place our trust in Mary, our Mother, the Immaculate Help of Christians, we pray for her continued protection always.