Derrida and Wittgenstein: Points of Opposition

The radicality of the challenges posed by Wittgenstein and Derrida to traditional philosophical approaches has provoked a number of comparisons of the two. There have been over a dozen such studies published, two of book length. One comes to these studies hoping for a “productive confrontation” between Wittgenstein and Derrida, to use Ruth Sonderegger’s phrase.1 The aim of the first two parts of this paper is to review these studies. Focusing primarily on the book-length studies, I will examine the problems they present and see what lessons are to be learned from them. Ultimately, we will find that the hopedfor confrontation never takes place. In the third part, I will set forth the issues in which Derrida and Wittgenstein meet in their points of closest opposition. These are the issues which will need to be addressed in order to bring about such a confrontation.