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what it is not.

For example, the word box. The word "box" is different in meaning from "chest," "container," "carton," "lox," "fox," and so on. Some of the alternative words in the list are synonyms for "box" but describe a very different kind of box. For example, a chest might be a kind of box in which valuables are stored; it might refer to the kind of boxes used by pirates, and so on. A container might refer to a Tupperware container used to store food; carton might refer to a packing carton or a carton of milk. All are boxes, but all are not boxes. The other words, lox and fox, are like box in that they sound like box. Otherwise, there is virtually no convergence of meaning. Furthermore, the word box when it appears in a sentence or thought will be followed by other words that will further define and refine its meaning. It is because of this that Derrida asserts that meaning is never full or complete, just like the closure of a book. Meaning, like the beyond of closure of a book, is ever elusive.

Derrida's main argument in Writing and Difference is that Western metaphysics obstructs meaning, and that it is important to deconstruct writing and discover the differnce in terms of both individual words and thoughts.

Derrida, Jacques. Writing and Difference. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978.

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