Limited Inc is a 1988 book by Jacques Derrida, containing two essays and an interview.
In the first essay, "Signature Event Context," Derrida engages with J. L. Austin's theory of the illocutionary act outlined in his How To Do Things With Words. The second essay, "Limited Inc a b c...", is Derrida's response to John Searle's "Reply to Derrida: Reiterating the Differences," which criticizes Derrida's interpretation of Austin. The book concludes with a letter by Derrida, written in response to questions posed by Gerald Graff in 1988: "Afterword: Toward an Ethic of Discussion". Searle's essay is not itself included: he denied Northwestern University Press permission to reprint it. A summary is included between the two Derrida essays, and Derrida quotes the essay extensively.
In its second volume (1977), Glyph published a response to Derrida's essay by John R. Searle entitled "Reiterating the Differences: A Reply to Derrida." It was this "Reply" that drew Derrida's rejoinder, the essay "Limited Inc abc. . . ," translated by Samuel Weber. When Professor Searle declined to have his essay included in the present book, we decided to insert a brief summary of its main points in an editorial note between Derrida's two essays. With this summary and Derrida's comprehensive quotation of Searle's "Reply," readers should be able to recon struct the dispute between Derrida and Searle. But they are advised to consult the full text of Searle's essay in Glyph 2.
"Signature Event Context" was originally delivered at a Montreal conference entitled "Communication," organized by the Congrès international des Sociétés de philosophie de langue française in August 1971. It was subsequently published in the Congrès' Proceedings and then collected in Derrida's Marges de la philosophie in 1972. It first appeared in English translation in the inaugural edition of the journal Glyph in 1977. Searle's "Reply to Derrida: Reiterating the Differences" was published in Glyph's second edition in 1977, along with Derrida's reply to Searle's reply: "Limited Inc a b c..."
Read more about Limited Inc: Signature Event Context, Dispute With John Searle - "Afterword: Toward An Ethic of Discussion"
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