Differance and Difference and Their Implications for the Nature of the Self and God

A Comparison of Derrida and Madhva

Abstract

The article “Differance and Difference and Their Implications for the Nature of the Self and God: A Comparison of Derrida and Madhva” by Carl Olson explores the philosophical intersections and divergences between Jacques Derrida’s postmodern deconstruction of metaphysics and Madhva’s Dvaita Vedānta emphasis on metaphysical difference. The article analyzes how both thinkers conceptualize "difference"—Derrida through his notion of différance, which disrupts metaphysical presence, and Madhva through bheda, the ontological essence of multiplicity. Olson contrasts their implications for understanding the self and God, arguing that while both frameworks value difference, Madhva’s metaphysics assures stability and identity, whereas Derrida’s undermines these very constructs.