Jacques Derrida on the Aporias of Hospitality

Zusatztext

The book systematically presents Derridas views on hospitality, as reflected in his texts and lectures from 1995 until his death in October 2004. Derridas engagement with hospitality is perhaps the most important and extensive philosophical attempt to respond critically to the growing hostility of many governments worldwide towards specific categories of foreigners, such as refugees and immigrants. Particular emphasis is placed on the aporetic nature of hospitality that Derrida describes: namely, that, on the one hand, the provision of hospitality brings us face to face with the hyper-ethical law of unconditional hospitality, which requires the unconditional reception of the other, i.e. the provision of hospitality to the foreigner without conditions, restrictions or expecting anything in return. On the other hand, the provision of hospitality forces us to face the conditional laws of hospitality, which, while establishing a right to and a duty of hospitality, simultaneously restrict hospitality by setting conditions for the arrival and stay of the foreigner. The book also analyses the decision and the event of hospitality, as well as the unresolved aporia at the heart of the ethics of hospitality (or of ethics in general), an aporia or contradiction related to the fact that we cannot be hospitable towards a singularity without sacrificing some other singularities. Attention is paid to Derridas attempt to open the provision of hospitality beyond humans, that is, to other living beings. Derridas views on hospitality are examined in the book in the light of the philosophical thought of Emmanuel Levinas, Immanuel Kant and René Schérer.

Autorenportrait

Gerasimos Kakoliris is Associate Professor in Contemporary Continental Philosophy at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece. His previous publications include Derridas Deconstructive Double Reading: The Case of Rousseau (2022, open access).

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