Louis Althusser Summary

Aligned with the French Communist Party, philosopher Louis Althusser (1918-1990) strove to explain contemporary developments by reinterpreting the doctrines of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.Louis Alt... Read more

Louis Althusser was one of the most important Communist philosophers of the late twentieth century. From his bases at the Ecole Normale Supérieure, where he taught for more than thirty years, a... Read more

In the following essay, James discusses the influence Althusser's conception of materialism has had on other thinkers and points out some of the problems with his arguments. Hearing that I w... Read more

In the following review, Mattick analyzes Althusser's attempt to understand his murder of his wife, but asserts that "Unfortunately, the book must be judged a failure as an effort at sel... Read more

In the following essay, Block analyzes the relationships between the works of Althusser, Marx, and Hegel. The English translation of Louis Althusser's Le future dure longtemps presents a cur... Read more

In the following review, Wenger asserts that "If the reader follows the unfolding of Althusser's logic with care, it is evident that while he is not correct about everything he analyzes,... Read more

In the following essay, Goldstein asserts that "[Tony Bennett's account of literary studies gives Althusserian theory the Foucaldian history that its postmodern opponents deny it."... Read more

In the following review, Steiner asserts that the scandal surrounding Althusser's life has overshadowed his work. There are moments when bad taste is the last refuge of common sense. Let me ... Read more

In the following review, Judt states that in Althusser's The Future Lasts Forever "We are presented not only with a man who is on the edge of insanity, obsessed with sexual imagery ... Read more