Teaching of thinking as a writing, on the basis of Derrida’s critique on Foucault’s reading of the relation between reason and madness in Descartes' "Cogito"

Subject Areas : Epistemological researches

Bahman Karimzadeh ¹

1 - Educational Sciences, literature and human science, Islamic Azad University, Iran, Saravan

Received: 2021-02-13 Accepted : 2021-10-12 Published : 2022-02-20

Keywords: Derrida, madness, "Teaching thinking, Writing. Reason,

Abstract :

The concept of thinking is one of the important issues in epistemology that philosophers and epistemologists have expressed different views on the nature of thinking and how relates to the reason. In this paper, we reconstruct the concept of thinking from Derrida's point of view through his critique on Foucault's reading of Descartes' "Cogito" and how relates to education. According to Foucault, Descartes excludes madness from thought, while Derrida believes that in Cogito, madness is only one case of thought (within thought). In Derrida's reading, Cogito is a zero point in which reason and madness are intertwined. While Foucault interprets Descartes as saying; I think, therefore I'm not mad, Derrida understands him as saying; Whether I am mad or not, Cogito, sum. Derrida, on the other hand, acknowledges that thinking is a kind of writing. Thinking; or the writing itself is possible only due to the absences and impossible situations, and rationality is possible only due to the irrationality, that is, madness. Derrida's writing is also made possible by a double connection with the teacher, Foucault's teaching; the teacher first of all, educates the students by providing the appropriate knowledge and way of thinking, and then the students challenge the teacher to think for themselves and create their unique voice.

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