Tag Archives: ferdinand de saussure

The critique of linguistic presence that Jacques Derrida develops in "Signature Event Context" (1971) has become a common place in contemporary philosophy and literary theory. Often forgotten, however – and not in the last place by the French philosopher himself – is the fact that this essay does not just proclaim the 'death of metaphysics' but also suggests a path for future philosophical research. "Signature Event Context" initiates a shift from signs and meaning themselves to the acts, procedures, and operations that invoke them.