Ghosts of Derrida: Between the Discourse of Memory and the History of Philosophy

Abstract

The paper turns to a well-known philosophical experiment of J. Derrida, who introduced hauntology, an imaginary science of ghosts orientated towards the texts of K. Marx. Based on Derrida’s productive idea , the author of this article suggests considering the figure of the ghost as being essential for the practice of memory and as constituting self-attitude of collective consciousness. The paper demonstrates the practical aspects of Derrida’s thesis about the need to address the ghost, which is a figure necessary for the formation of collective memory. The ghost is viewed as an actor constituting the space and the internal structure of collective memory, at the same time being an initiator of and a catalyst for the development of relations introjected by collective consciousness. Oftentimes, the most significant are those ghosts that have no real referent in the historical past and constitute collective memories by themselves. Thus, the ghosts inhabiting the collective memory of humankind are always constructs of human consciousness, entities from the register of the imaginary. The author demonstrates how the mechanisms of fixing ghosts as points of crystallization of collective memory can be described in terms of political economy as paradoxical objects irreducible to universal equivalence, but supporting it. Taking Derrida’s discourse about ghosts as a starting point, the author shows in what directions the sociological, political, aesthetic and philosophical aspects of this topic can be further developed. Moreover, according to the author, philosophy should retain in this process the function of integral discourse, which allows us to stay away from pure essayism and always remember our own goals and objectives.