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Louis Althusser (1918–1990)

Author of For Marx

149+ Works 3,309 Members 8 Reviews 5 Favorited

About the Author

Louis Althusser (1918-1990) was a leading Marxist philosopher and an influential figure in the French Communist Party. He taught philosophy for many years at the cole Normale Suprieure in Paris and his many books include For Marx and Reading Capital (with tienne Balibar and others) and Lenin and show more Philosophy. show less
Image credit: Louis Althusser In France On April 26, 1978

Series

Works by Louis Althusser

For Marx (1965) 579 copies
Reading Capital: The Complete Edition (1965) — Author — 470 copies
On Ideology (2008) 177 copies
Machiavelli and Us (1995) 110 copies
Writings on Psychoanalysis (1993) 77 copies
Lessons on Rousseau (2012) 48 copies
Essays on Ideology (1976) 25 copies
Lire le Capital, tome 1 (1966) 24 copies
Essays in self-criticism (1974) 21 copies
Lire le Capital, tome 2 (1966) 19 copies
Reponse a John Lewis (1973) 13 copies
Sul materialismo aleatorio (2000) 12 copies
Sur la philosophie (1994) 10 copies
Filosofia y marxismo (1988) 7 copies
Gelecek Uzun Surer (2015) 6 copies
Was tun? (2020) 5 copies
Sur le Contrat Social (2009) 5 copies
Escritos (1975) 5 copies
Journal de Captivite (1992) 4 copies
Tutsaklik Güncesi (2015) 3 copies
Positions (1982) 3 copies
Marx Icin (2015) 2 copies
22e Congres (1977) 2 copies
Las vacas negras (1900) 2 copies
Opgør med stalinismen (1978) 2 copies
Izbrani spisi 2 copies
Yeniden-uretim uzerine — Author — 2 copies
Discutir el estado (1982) 1 copy
Lettres a Helene (2013) 1 copy
Ecrits sur l'histoire (2018) 1 copy

Associated Works

Mapping Ideology (1994) — Contributor — 188 copies
Los conceptos elementales del materialismo historico (1969) — Introduction, some editions — 79 copies
Grand Street 47 (Autumn 1993) (1993) — Contributor — 7 copies

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Common Knowledge

Members

Reviews

Whilst not being an intellectual power house (you could probably glean most of his insights from giving Pink Floyd’s The Wall another spin) Althusser certainly stands as a decent springboard for your own thought. Frankly the discussions of ideology were the least interesting, with Althusser’s discussions of the Subject/subject distinction (by being hailed by a policeman in the street, by being ‘picked out’ as it were, you are shown to always-already be inscribed as a subject within an ideological framework, your placement within the structure being forced upon you - Althusser dubs this process ‘interpellation’), of class struggle being the motor of history (contra humanist/petty-bourgeois attempts to portray Man as the maker of history, able to craft and transcend his position with the stuff/material of history, all utilised/co-opted as a smokescreen for ideological and economist purposes, even with thinkers such as Sartre who construe themselves as Marxist revolutionaries giving into these tendencies, unconsciously opening the door for a regressive kind of thought that throws up obstacles when it comes to a scientific knowledge of historical/dialectical materialism), however any and all of his discussions concerning God are incredibly weak and unconvincing, as he espouses a dull and unpalatable atheism that strikes one as markedly adolescent. His attempts to evade God as the Subject of history, as some philosophical concept as discardable as consciousness, substance, Reason etc. etc. are just bone headed, and I hope there’s an essay of his out there where he tackles ontotheology/the question of God more directly. Having now read a decent chunk of his Reading Capital I can confidently say that this is a far less nuanced and sophisticated output by Althusser, but I still had a blast working through it. It’s a real bummer that he strangled his wife though, and its terrible that he spent the rest of his life haunted by the fact that he was never convicted for it, that he could never assume responsibility for her death, even if it was ruled to have been due to hallucinations brought about by a new regiment of antipsychotics. Also my book started to fall apart due to this infernal fucking English heatwave, and I’ve had a hell of a time sticking it back together and sanding down the parts that stuck out - the Ideological and Repressive State Apparatuses are out to get me folks, they’re shutting down free thought !!! … ( more )
 
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theoaustin | Dec 26, 2023 |
"[Althusser] is a professional philosopher who is also a prominent member of the [French Communist] Party without being committed to the official eclecticism. For Althusser, a complete Marxist philosophy remains an unfulfilled desideratum. Only the cornerstone of the building has been laid: the structure remains to be erected. For all its apparent modesty, this approach discloses a resolute determination to build a total system. Is it an accident that Althusser (like Antonio Gramsci a generation earlier) operates within a Catholic culture, as the theorist of a movement which for its adherents has become a substitute for the Church? At any rate the effective completion of his project points in the direction of an all-encompassing synthesis. Impressive in its way, there is nonetheless something scholastic about it. One wonders what Marx would have thought of it."(citations omitted) (1966) … ( more )
 
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GLArnold | Aug 11, 2023 |
My first round of reading this book is a bit disappointing. Maybe I need to read his other earlier works. Admittedly, my prompt selction of this book by a dead philosopher among all of his other more serious writings, was due to the scandelous end of its author-ship. I wonder how many 'renditions' into English are there, for this memoir written in French. Let me know if you know? cheers.
 
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allthingsgo | Apr 30, 2021 |
Protagonista central de los debates marxista de la segunda mitad del siglo XX, Louis Althusseres autor de una obra que en los ultimos anos ha comenzado a ser leida como fundante de un pensamiento posmarxista en el que la teoria de la historia priorita la dimension del acontecimiento,del encuentro contingente que deja de lado toda sustancia y todo sujeto del devenir historico. marcado por su afinidad temprana con el cristianismo y por la posterior influencia de Lacan y del estructuralismo el posmarxismo de Althusser comienza a tomar forma en los cursos que, entre 1955 y 1972, dicto en la escuela normal Superior sobre los problemas de la filosofia de la historia, maquiavelo, y la filosofia politica En los siglos 17 y 18, y que, hasta ahora inedito se reunen en este volumen por primera vez.
Entre ellos, la relacion del autor con la ensenanza filosofica se expresa como una experiencia de pensamiento en la que se trata de volver a captar ?para ponerse a su altura? el trabajo de "algunos hombres que intentaron el esfuerzo mayor de lucidez que puede haber". Althusser se vale de la audiencia de especializacion del curso para intentar construir, no una filosofia nueva, sino una practica nueva de la filosofia apuntando incansablemente a que las cosas se muevan.
… ( more )
 
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ckepfer | Mar 31, 2020 |

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Works
149
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Rating
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ISBNs
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