What controversy arose when the University of Cambridge considered awarding Jacques Derrida an honorary doctorate in 1992?

In 1992, the University of Cambridge proposed awarding an honorary doctorate to the French philosopher Jacques Derrida, which ignited a significant controversy within the academic community.1

The opposition was so intense that the university took the unusual step of putting the decision to a vote of its dons, which Derrida ultimately won. Concurrently, 19 philosophers from around the world published a letter of protest against the honor. These critics argued that Derrida’s writing was incomprehensible and that his major philosophical claims were either trivial or false.1

This incident reflected broader tensions between Derrida’s deconstruction—which challenged fundamental conceptual distinctions in Western philosophy—and many philosophers in the Anglo-American tradition. Critics frequently characterized his work as nihilistic, antirational, or a form of "obscurantist wordplay," viewing his approach as a threat to "serious" philosophical inquiry.123