The Seba library treats Diffrance in 8 passages, across 3 authors (including Derrida, Jacques, John of Damascus, Jung, Carl Gustav).
the sign, which defers presence, is conceivable only on the basis of the presence that it defers and moving toward the deferred presence that it aims to reappropriate
Derrida identifies différance as the structural deferral built into the classical sign, whereby presence is never immediate but always displaced through the movement of signification.
, Margins of Philosophy, 1982thesis
number deals with differences, and it is quite impossible to enumerate things that differ from one another in no respect: and just so far as they differ are they enumerated
John of Damascus grounds enumeration and distinction in ontological difference, articulating a theological logic of difference-as-condition that parallels, in a regulated mode, the structural role différance plays in signification.
, An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, 2021supporting
the natures of the Lord are united without confusion in respect of subsistence, and are divided without separation according to the method and manner of difference
The Damascene formulation of Christological difference-without-separation offers a theological paradigm in which difference is essential yet controlled, standing in deliberate contrast to the unresolvable deferral named by différance.
, Saint John of Damascus Collection, 2016supporting
things that have the same will and energy have the same essence, while things that are different in will and energy are different in essence
This passage deploys difference as a metaphysical discriminator between natures, illustrating how classical theology systematizes difference rather than allowing it to proliferate or defer endlessly.
, An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, 2021supporting
they are both separated in space and differ in time, and are divided in thought, and power, and shape, or form, and habit, and temperament and dignity, and pursuits, and all differentiating properties
John of Damascus catalogues the modes of difference constituting distinct subsistences, providing a patristic taxonomy of difference that presupposes stable identity where différance insists on its undecidability.
, An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, 2021supporting
The confrontation of the two positions generates a tension charged with energy and creates a living, third thing—not a logical stillbirth in accordance with the principle tertium non datur but a movement out of the suspension between opposites
Jung's account of the transcendent function as arising from the suspension between irreconcilable opposites structurally echoes the productive deferral of resolution that différance names, though Jung frames the outcome as synthesis rather than endless displacement.
, The Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche, 1960supporting
things that are different in essence are different in will and energy; and vice versa, things that have the same will and energy have the same essence
The reversible equation of essence and energy through difference operates as a theological regulative principle, marking the boundary within which difference is permitted in this tradition.
, Saint John of Damascus Collection, 2016aside
the difference between the united natures is recognised, and the fact that, as the most godly Cyril says, they are not identical in the natural quality of their divinity and humanity
Recognition of irreducible difference between united natures positions Christological theology as a sustained meditation on the co-presence of identity and non-identity, a theme structurally contiguous with the problematics of différance.
, Saint John of Damascus Collection, 2016aside