Vox 10: Dr. Axelrod on Derrida and Voice's Critique

There is this central experience that Husserl seems to have talked of--and that Derrida objects to: the "experience of hearing oneself speak at the point of utterance creates the impression of absolute self-presence. . . a moment of consciousness in which utterance and thought seem one." (8-9) Derrida seems to see this as the ur-culprit--the source of our longing for presence. This seems odd to me.

I admit that I have a longing for presence, it is a good for me in writing. But I often don't have that sense in my speaking. I often feel very much a Derridean gap between my words and my meaning or intention. My longing for presence (however sinful it is) comes from a sense that in some texts and some speaking there is a lot of it--and in some not--by me and by others. In some language we get a sense of the person being in it, behind it; and in some not.