Derrida-Memoirs of the Selection)

8/3/2019 Derrida-Memoirs of the Selection)

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Memoirs of the Blind

I write without seeing. I came. I wanted to kiss your hand. T h i s is the first timeI have ever written in the dark n o t knowing whether I am indeed forming letters.Wherever there will be nothing, read that I love you.Diderot, Letter to Sophie Volland, June 10, 1759

Do you believe this ly o n sc r o y e z 1 . 2*Y o u ' llo b s er v et ha tf ro mthe

very beginning of this interview I've had problems following you. I remainskeptical But skepticism is precisely what I've been talking to you about:the difference between believing and seeing, between believing one sees[croire voir] and seeing between, catching a glimpse [entrevoir]or not.Before doubt ever becomes a system, skepsis has to do with the eyes. Theword refers to a visual perception, to the observation, vigilance, and atten-

tion of the gaze [regard] during an examination. One is on the lookout,one reflects upon what one sees, reflects what one sees by delaying themoment of conclusion. Keeping Igardant] the thing in sight, one keeps onlooking at it [on la regarde]. The judgment depends on the hypothesis. Soasnot to forget them along the way, so that everything be made clear, letme summarize: there would be two hypotheses. You seem to fear the monocular vision of things. Why not a singlepoint of view? Why two hypotheses?

*This phrase, repeated on the next to the last line of the work, can be read in severalways, ranging from its everyday meaning, "Do you think so?," to the more literal, "Do youbelieve?," to the more incredulous, "Do you really believe this?" The phrase does not havea direct object, but we have given it one to indicate that it could be understood as aresponse to the epigraph or to the conversation in progress. Trans.

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