Logocentrism

The term logocentrism is derived from the Greek word logos, which means word, speech, or reason. The term most commonly refers to philosophy's relentless search to find true meaning within the realm of theory and ideas. Concomitant with this search is a disdain for the material world of practice. Synonymous with logocentrism is phonocentrism (the favoring of speech over writing) and the metaphysics of presence (the belief in a reliable, apparent relationship between signifier and signified). The French thinker Jacques Derrida (b. 1930) (along with his deconstructionist followers) developed the concept of logocentrism in an effort to critique, relativize, and contextualize Western philosophy.

One of the main features of the structuralist approach to society and philosophy, as advocated by thinkers such as Claude Lévi-Strauss (b. 1908) ...