Foucault and Derrida are often grouped together as 'post-structuralists' (see Appendix). but these two examples of theory present striking differences. Derrida offers a reading or interpretation of texts, identifying a logic at work in a text. Foucault's claim is not based on texts in fact he cites amazingly few actual documents or discourses but offers a general framework for thinking about texts and discourses in general. Derrida's interpretation shows the extent to which literary works themselves, such as Rousseau's Confessions. are theoretical: they offer explicit speculative arguments about writing. desire. and substitution or supplementation, and they guide thinking about these topics in ways that they leave implicit. Foucault, on the other hand, proposes to show us not how insightful or wise texts are but howfar the discourses of doctors, scientists, novelists, and others create the things they claim only to analyse. Derrida shows how theoretical the literary works are, Foucault how creatively productive the discourses of knowledge are.