Althusser

James Farmelant farmelantj at juno.com
Thu Jun 4 07:08:43 PDT 1998


On Thu, 4 Jun 1998 12:34:10 +0100 Jim heartfield <Jim at heartfield.demon.co.uk> writes:

...
>A. should have gone not to Engels' later letters to Conrad Schmidt on
>historical materialism, but to his formulation that 'freedom is the
>recognition of necessity ... and the leap from necessity'. Seeing the
>obstacles in your way is the precondition of overcoming them.
>--
>Jim heartfield
>

This is curious because while Althusser was a confirmed anti-Hegelian he also professed to regard Spinoza as Marx's true precursor. Engels' equation of freedom with the recognition of necessity while derived from Hegel represented a view of freedom that had roots in Spinoza. A possible key to understanding this aspect of Althusser's thought might

be found in a closer examination of Althusser's admiration of August Comte. Whereas, neither Marx nor Engels had much use for Comte's Positivism, Althusser made a number of admiring references to Comte in both *Pour Marx* and *Lire le Capital.* I would submit that here may perhaps be found the roots for Althusser's tendency to treat subjectivity and human agency as epiphenomena.

Jim Farmelant

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