The controversy between Jacques Derrida and John Searle focusing on J.L.Austin’s theory of speech act may reflect the misunderstanding between Anglo-American and the Continental philosophies.On the one hand,Derrida questions about Austin’s explaining meaning in terms of context,regarding the meaning coming from iterance.On the other hand,Searle argues that Derrida misreads Austin and does not catch up Austin’s words.Accordingly,Derrida’s response seems to be a typical parody and irony which is far from the logical preciseness of philosophy.Does the contest reproduce the ancient quarrel between poetry and philosophy as what Plato refers to? In what degree Derrida’s writing may stand for a literary position,or is it possible for both Searle and Derrida to reconsider the other side’s method mutually? The paper tries to give an analysis to answer above questions.
