Roland Theuas D. Pada presented a paper titled 鈥淣ormativity in Communication and Morality in the conference 鈥�45 Years of Jacques Derrida鈥檚 Signature Event Context鈥� at the Colegio de San Lorenzo on September 8 and 9, 2016. The conference celebrated the 45th anniversary of Derrida鈥檚 landmark essay regarding the problem of context in the process of communication at the Congr猫s international des Soci茅t茅s de philosophie de langue fran莽aise in August 1971.
Pada presented his take on Normativity in Communication and Morality as a parallel of reading of Jacques Derrida鈥檚 concept of context and Axel Honneth鈥檚 notion of normativity. He argued that both thinkers presented a similar stance on the stability and instability of norms and context. While Derrida opposed canonical and final readings of texts, Honneth argued against the understanding of ethics and morality under an absolute or 鈥渇ixed鈥� context. In his presentation, Pada emphasized the dynamics of communication and socialization as a context that has its limitations and margins that allows us to understand the meaning and the context of morality and communication. Pada followed the same line of reasoning that Derrida proposed in his landmark paper, 鈥淪ignature Event Context,鈥� by stating that the context of morality is neither infinite, nor is it exhaustible.
Aside from Pada, the other Thomasians who attended the conference were Philosophy Department Chair Dr. Paolo Bola帽os, who presided over the conference as the acting President of the Philosophical Association of the Philippines, and Franz Joseph Yoshiy, an undergraduate student from the Philosophy department, who presented a paper on Derrida鈥檚 notion of Hospitality titled 鈥淒iscerning a Movement of Jacques Derrida鈥檚 Notion of Diff茅rance in his Ethics of Hospitality.鈥�
The conference had notable keynote speakers such as Prof. Paul Patton from the University of South Wales, who specializes in French European thinkers such as Foucault, Deleuze, and Derrida. He translated Deleuze鈥檚 鈥淩epetition and Difference鈥� from French to English. Also, one of Derrida鈥檚 notable translators, Prof. Gayatri Chakraborty Spivak, delivered the first keynote lecture on the anniversary of Derrida鈥檚 SEC. Prof. Spivak translated Derrida鈥檚 鈥淥f Grammatology鈥� from French to English and provided an elaborate introduction to this work. She is currently a Professor at Columbia University and is a foremost Literary Critic, Feminist theorist, and social activist.
