deconstruction

n. a form of critical analysis of literary texts and philosophical positions that is based on the twin assumptions that there can be no firm referents for language and no adequate grounding for truth claims. Although deconstruction challenges the fundamental grounds of the Western philosophical tradition, it recognizes that both the tools and the motivation for doing so arise from that very tradition. A deconstructive reading of a text will generally use traditional analytical methods to expose the innumerable ways in which the text subverts its own claims to meaning and coherence. In much general usage, the term is now taken to be synonymous with the destruction of an idea or a truth claim. See also poststructuralism. [introduced by French philosopher Jacques Derrida (1930–2004)] —deconstruct vb. —deconstructive adj.

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Psychology term of the day

December 18th 2024

conscientiousness

n. the tendency to be organized, responsible, and hardworking, construed as one end of a dimension of individual differences (conscientiousness vs. lack of direction) in the Big Five personality model. It is also a dimension in the five-factor personality model. Also called industriousness. —conscientious adj.