Derrida, a Faithful Heir of Husserl? Alterity and Ethics (in question) in the Fifth Cartesian Meditation

Derrida resorted to the Fifth Cartesian Meditation by Edmund Husserl both to signal his differences vis-à-vis other philosophers and to elaborate an axiom regarding the respect that we should pay to the other's alterity. However, a further look at this very text may make Derrida's interpretation questionable. This paper aims to solve this tension by providing a broader take on Derrida's appropriation of the Fifth Cartesian Meditation. The axiom that calls for respecting the other's alterity only makes sense in a context in which their appearing before us can lead to transcendental violence. Thus, I will first pay attention to Derrida's remarks regarding the axiom he draws from the Fifth Cartesian Meditation to make a contrast with Husserl's intentions. I will then turn to “Violence and Metaphysics” to lay the framework that makes Derrida's axiom necessary, namely the violence proper to phenomenality that threatens to disrespect the other's alterity.