Date: Fri, 12 Aug 1994 12:02:22 EST
From: Pete Bratsis <aki-AT-cunyvms1.gc.cuny.edu>
Subject: Re: Althusser




I would have to disagree that Althusser's most influencial contribution 
was his distinction between science and ideology.  Certainly Althusser 
was not the first to make this claim and took a lot from other currents
of Marxism that tried to make the claim to science.  Della Volpe's 
'Logic as a Positive Science' is of particular note as is the work of 
his student Colleti which where in vogue amoung French Marxists at the 
time (reading through Reading Capital or Political Power and Social 
Classes one will find frequent mention of them as well as other Italians).
Second, while Althusser's desire to present Marxism as a science is not 
one that I share and, as already mentioned, would recoment Stanley 
Aronowitz's Science as Power, I do find a lot of Althusser's writing 
on epistimology attractive.  Bringing in philosophy of science by way of 
Bachelard into Marxism has had a lasting effect in makeing question of 
epistimology (relativly absent in earlier times with the exception of 
an occasional flurish by the Frakfurt school) a relavent issue and 
question within Marxism.  Althusser's two most influential contribution, 
though, are his critique of essentialism and his work on subjectivity and 
ideology.  Althusser's rejection of a centered totality and essentialism 
is a necessary step and a point of departure for post-modernism/post-marxism.
While still assuming the intelligibility of society Althusser presents is 
as having much more complexity as fluidness.  Every element of social life
is not longer simply an expression of class antagonism/economic exploitation, 
could be that family life can not be reduced to class antagonism, could be 
that law can not be seen as a simple reflection of economic structures, etc.
I find it quite amasing that his Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses 
is core to as many disciplines as it is, film students read it, literature 
students, sociologists/cultural studies, political science students, 
philosophy students etc.  But here the relevent distinction is not 
science as opposed to ideology.  Here Althusser presents was is now more
common a view, ideology as actual physical practices * not beleifs * and
also presents a vairly complex theory of subjectivity by way of his notion
of ideological interpellation.  I think that this essay has shaped the 
problematic for a whole generation of cultural studies.  As I mentioned 
a few weeks ago, in many ways all of Bourdieu can be read as a footnote to this 
essay.  Theorists infulenced by this part of Althusser include Ernesto Laclau,
Bourdieu, Terry Eagelton, Stuart Hall, etc.  

Bye for now.

Peter Bratsis
CUNY Grad. Center