In the Shadow of Althusser 1963–1966 149
to Jean Hyppolite, Derrida’s candidacy was straightforward and
there would be few obstacles, especially since he himself was part
of the commission.^13 But the prospect of these two years of pure
research scared Derrida more than they allured him. Even though
his memory of the years he had spent at Normale Sup as a student
were quite painful, he was very tempted by the post of caïman in
philosophy:
Through all the suff ering, the alluring and fascinating model
of the École has left its mark on me, so when Hyppolite and
Althusser suggested that I go back when I could have gone else-
where [.. .], I quit the CNRS to return to the ENS. Whatever
criticism I may make of this École, at that time it was a model,
and teaching there was a sort of honour and gratifi cation that I
had neither the courage nor the desire to turn down.^14On leaving the Sorbonne, Derrida wrote a long letter to Paul
Ricoeur to tell him of his ‘nostalgia, already’ and his ‘immense
gratitude’. He would keep an excellent memory of those four years
at the Sorbonne and thought that he had defi nitely benefi ted from
them, ‘both in terms of the profession, and in terms of philosophy,
especially where the profession and philosophy, for those of us who
are lucky enough, are one and the same’. Even though Derrida still
felt fragile, he was sure that, thanks to this sojourn in the Sorbonne,
he had been given a valuable boost:
All of this was possible only because I worked under your
direction and at your side. The generous and friendly con-
fi dence that you showed me was a profound and constant
encouragement. [.. .] Please consider me henceforth as not just
your honorary but your permanent assistant.^15Maurice de Gandillac was glad that Derrida’s appointment to
Normale Sup was rapidly confi rmed, which freed his post at the
CNRS and allowed Althusser to be given ‘the invaluable collabora-
tion that Hyppolite’s departure made more necessary’.^16 But he lost
no time reminding Derrida of the importance of the theses that he
would need to write, and hoped that his new tasks would give him
enough free time to complete them ‘as quickly as possible’, since
caïmans had too much of a tendency to let the years slip by.^17 De
Gandillac’s surmise would prove to be all too accurate. Absorbed
by his various planned articles, Derrida explained to Hyppolite that
he had barely done any work on his main thesis over the summer
of 1964. But he had started an ‘essay’ on writing in Hegel and
Feuerbach, or rather ‘between Hegel and Feuerbach’, which should
enable him to settle on the concepts and the main set of problems