Deconstruction and the 'Unfinished Project of Modernity'

Deconstruction has been widely and detrimentally misunderstood. In this provocative new book, Christopher Norris challenges the prevalent idea that deconstruction is merely a more specialized offshoot of postmodernism. Through a close engagement with some key thinkers-among them Derrida, Foucault, de Man, Habermas, Lyotard and Levinas--Norris argues that deconstruction is part of the "unfinished project of modernity"--a project whose interests and values deconstruction upholds by continuing to question them in a spirit of enlightened self-critical inquiry. Assessing the impact of postmodernist thought across a range of disciplines, the book presents a lucid analysis and guide to the problems and prospects of critical theory.

Christopher Norris is Distinguished Research Professor in Philosophy at the University of Cardiff.