[lbo-talk] Althusser, NLR and the meaning of 'Stalinism'

Mike Beggs mikejbeggs at gmail.com
Wed Feb 24 15:10:27 PST 2010


On Wed, Feb 24, 2010 at 2:26 AM, Ted Winslow <egwinslow at rogers.com> wrote:


> assume what they explicitly deny, i.e. that these claims don't apply to the
> "theoretical and scientific writings" of Althusser and to his own "frames of
> reference."

Yeah, the sharp line Althusser draws between ideology and theory or science is a little preposterous and easy to mock. But it is his answer to accusations that his system is closed, everyone is under the sway of ideology and things are hopeless. Take out the assumption that it's the philosophers of the vanguard party doing the science, and it's the old Enlightenment idea that we can break out of received ideologies using reason and science.

In some ways it's not really so far from your view. But here's my problem with what you say about the education of humanity: you say it's an 'individualist' theory rather than a holist or essentialist one. But it seems to me that you are always really talking about the old Humanity in general rather than actual people. It's Feuerbach and it's mystical.

Mike Beggs



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