Althusser's mental health problems really don't have much to do with
the success or the lack of success of his political and philosophical
projects. Frankly I don't see anything here that really deals with
Althusser's project, which is a critical rereading of Marx that
critiques a particular set of humanist readings of the same
philosopher. I'm not sure what that has to do with the construction
of a 'system of language' (although all analysis of ideology is
necessarily going to have to deal with the question of the sign or of
language.) I would suggest going back to the actual texts, but
Spinoza's priviso at the end the introduction to the Theological
Political Treatise comes to mind. robert wood
>
> What? In the specific case of Althusser? I'll put it bluntly. He
> constructed
> his own system of language and tried to apply it to reality which come
> 1968
> didn't comply. Then he went mental and finally published a wierd "dynamic"
> approach to philosophy which no one paid any attention to.
>
> Anyone who submits language to such constrictions is pushing some
> seriously
> dogmatic agenda. A great critique of this use of language for dogmatic,
> self-assertive purposes can be found in Chomsky's critique of the
> behavioral
> psychologist BF Skinner; its far more readable than most of the French
> stuff
> and it can be applied to Althusser's attempt to, how shall I put it, make
> people speak his language...
>
> If, on the other hand, you're asking me to back up the assertion that
> ethical purges often end in dogmatism I can only give examples. Althusser,
> the above mentioned Skinner, Heidegger's strange connection with Nazism
> comes to mind, comparing some of Wittgenstein's early work with his
> religious assertions is also interesting.
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