Given time and the gift of life

John Protevi

pp. 65-82

in: Man and World 30 (1), 1997.

Abstract

"Given Time and the Gift of Life" explores the following nexus in Derrida's thought: the gift, the mother, and life. The first section examines life within the trajectory of the gift, the excess of gift over return in the gift of life, and the rewriting of Aristotelian generation in "differantial species-being." The second section shows the "quasi-transcendental" nature of Derrida's thought. The conclusion sketches some of the political consequences of the gift of life thought as the quasi-transcendental gift of differantial species-being.