 Jacques Derrida (1930-2004) was the founder of "deconstruction," a way of criticizing not only literary and philosophical texts, but also political institutions.Derrida rejected Platonism, which is defined by the belief that existence is structured in terms of oppositions (separate substances or forms) and that the oppositions are hierarchical, with one side of the opposition being more valuable than the other.Deconstruction attacks such beliefs by reversing hierarchies between the invisible or intelligible, the visible or sensible, essence and appearance and voice and writing.