This paper is an attempt to recapitulate the main themes in Jacques Derrida’s thought on the university. The author focuses on The University without Condition (presented for the first time in 1998). The paper briefly recounts the philosopher’s involvement in educational institutions (GREPH, Collège International de Philosophie). Next, there is an analysis of the distinction between the future (futur) and the future-to-come (l’avenir), as well as the related opposition between profession (profession) and craft/trades (métier). The strategy of conceiving the university as the topolitical place of resistance is revealed using Derrida’s deconstruction of the repeater figure (agrégé-répétiteur). The paper ends by presenting an analogy between the condition of structural atheism and the obligation of the university to create a possibility for an event (beyond the constative/performative opposition).
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