Derrida in the University, or the Liberal Arts in Deconstruction

Derrida’s account of Kant’s and Schelling’s writings on the origins of the modern university are interpreted to show that theoretical positions attempting to oversee and master the contemporary university find themselves destabilized or deconstructed. Two examples of contemporary attempts to install the liberal arts as the guardians and overseers of the contemporary university are examined. Both examples fall prey to the types of deconstructive displacements identified by Derrida. The very different reasoning behind Derrida’s own institutional intervention in the modern French university is discussed. This discussion leads to concluding comments on the need to defend pure research in the humanities, as well as in the social and natural sciences, rather than elevating the classical liberal arts to a privileged position.