possible - impossible

is an aporia or paradox whereby the condition of possibility of certain concepts (i.e. Giving, forgiving, mourning, hospitality, the law, etc) is also the condition of their impossibility. For example, one can only give because pure giving is impossible.

In his recent work, Derrida often insist that the condition of the possibility of mourning, giving, forgiving, and hospitality, to cite some of his most famous examples, is at once also the condition of their impossibility (see section 7). In his explorations of these 'possible-impossible' aporias, it becomes undecidable whether genuine giving, for example, is either a possible or an impossible ideal.

possible impossible, n.Definitions

possible impossible