Martin Jay and Jacques Derrida : After Downcast Eyes

This paper depicts the relationship between Martin Jay and Jacques Derrida.The latter was a twentieth-century French philosopher, whose ideas Jay had examined in his book Downcast Eyes.In the Introduction, Jay says that before the publication of his book he had discussions with several French thinkers "thus experiencing a more active fusion -or at least interaction -of horizons than is given to most historians."(p.18) Among them, Derrida seems to be the only philosopher who responded manifestly to Jays book.Through this short presentation, that traces the direct and indirect exchanges between them, I would like to clarify the issues that arose between these two philosophers.