Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays

Posted on 03 May 2018 by Louis Althusser

No figure among the western Marxist theoreticians has loomed larger in the postwar period than Louis Althusser A rebel against the Catholic tradition in which he was raised, Althusser studied philosophy and later joined both the faculty of the Ecole normal superieure and the French Communist Party in 1948 Viewed as a structuralist Marxist, Althusser was as much admired for his independence of intellect as he was for his rigorous defense of Marx The latter was best illustrated in For Marx 1965 , and Reading Capital 1968 These works, along with Lenin and Philosophy1971 had an enormous influence on the New Left of the 1960s and continues to influence modern Marxist scholarship.This classic work, which to date has sold than 30,000 copies, covers the range of Louis Althusser s interests and contributions in philosophy, economics, psychology, aesthetics, and political science.Marx, in Althusser s view, was subject in his earlier writings to the ruling ideology of his day Thus for Althusser, the interpretation of Marx involves a repudiation of all efforts to draw from Marx s early writings a view of Marx as a humanist and historicist Lenin and Philosophy also contains Althusser s essay on Lenin s study of Hegel a major essay on the state, Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses, Freud and Lacan A letter on Art in Reply to Andr Daspre, and Cremonini, Painter of the Abstract The book opens with a 1968 interview in which Althusser discusses his personal, political, and intellectual history. New Download Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays [ By ] Louis Althusser [ Kindle ePUB or eBook ] – kino-fada.fr I love this guy Hard to think of any piece of writing thats influenced the way I think about the worldthan Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses When I read Althusser, I have a real sense of interacting with someone I real...much of interest here, but most people read it for the very famous essay on ideological state apparatuses, which, of course, if one has not read it, one must be a philistine or a barbarian or a fascist or something.One of...I was in London in September 2011 when the rioting occurred I was staying in Dalston just south of Tottenham where the riots started Three nights of mayhem ensued, lives were tragically lost and innocent people suffered But what shocked me most was the style and level of reporting It was perfectly understanda...Caveat, I m only rating the essay on ideology in this book, which is also the most famous essay in the text I ll get to that in a moment.Although I read the preface, by Fredric Jameson, and an interview of Althusser, and an essay on Lenin, I skipped all the other essays As usual in the interview and the essay on Lenin, everything I read was insane and philosophically ridiculous Althusser is almost always a charlatan Like in For Marx, Althusser begins all his essays the same way I m only go Caveat, I m only rating the essay on ideology in this book, which is also the most famous essay in the text I ll get to that in a moment.Although I read the preface, by Fredric Jameson, and an interview of Althusser, and an essay on Lenin, I skipped all the other essays As usual in the interview and the essay on Lenin, everything I read was insane and philosophically ridiculous Althusser is almost always a charlatan Like in For Marx, Althusser begins all his essays the same way I m only going to a sketch some provisional theses this is not to be taken as a definite position From there he continues to lay outhypotheticals, each of which is in need of further exploration later Therefore, he acts as his own scapegoat by never sticking to a position, he s always working provisionally, and thus always capable of rejecting what he said, as soon as it s pointed out as untenable, or ridiculous I think For M...The question that any reviewer of a book ought to ask is Why should I read this book instead of all the other books Even on obscure subjects, many books exist So, why should I read Lenin and Philosophy instead of all the other books It pains me to say that you probably shouldn t If you are interested in what I understand as Post Marxism, you should read For Marx It s better There isin the way of philosophy, and there are better essays.Likely, I would rate this book as 3 1 2 stars Al The question that any reviewer of a book ought to ask is Why should I read this book instead of all the other books Even on obscure subjects, many books exist So, why should I read Lenin and Philosophy instead of all the other books It pains me to say that you probably shouldn t If you are interested in what I understand as Post Marxism, you should read For Marx It s better There isin the way of philosophy, and there are better essays.Likely, I would rate this book as 3 1 2 stars Althusser is a very, very good essayist Despite accusations of metaphysical wandering in his writings, I find him to be clear and even exciting When it comes to writing essays, the two people who have influenced my ability to ask and frame questions, and to really inquire into a text, are two writers who are often accused of obscurity Althusser and Lacan No one should be reading either of these authors and attempting to imitate their writing However, as a writer, the question, What is at stake will pop up so many ...lol i love althusser so muchThis book is fairly easy to follow, but honestly most of the Lenin essays, along with the Introduction to Marx s Capital, is fairly redundant The essay Ideology and the State, however is phenomenal, and came close to influencing me to giving this five stars The first time I read Ideology and the State was in the first year of my graduate school career At the time ...A Brief Note on the Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses EssayRecently, I had reason to return to this important essay I found its revision of the old marxist materialism cum economism surprisingly compelling But certainly not in the way our author intended Althusser, with Lacan and Deleuze, have all become the master thinkers of post marxism The impossibility of revolution in any economically advanced nation has brought us to this impasse It is my contention that Marxism today A Brief Note on the Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses EssayRecently, I had reason to return to this important essay I found its revision of the old marxist materialism cum economism surprisingly compelling But certainly not in the way our author intended Althusser, with Lacan and Deleuze, have all become the master thinkers of post marxism The impossibility of revolution in any economically advanced nation has brought us to this impasse It is my contention that Marxism today is but another Ideological State Apparatus ISA that explains and therefo...lol all the reviews are basically only for the ideology essay, which is obviously a classic must read, but honestly the verso on ideology edition has all of that plus the freud lacan ones as well i think the only thing added here that is of substantial use is althusser s preface to capital, which is also worth reading my edition didn t even have jameson s introduction, natch the actual stuff on lenin and philosophy is amiable but would needdevelopment for underqualified me to truly lol all the reviews are basically only for the ideology essay, which is obviously a classic must read, but honestly the verso on ideology edition has all of that plus the freud lacan ones as well i think the only thin...Louis Althusser strikes me as a contradiction at once a strikingly innovative and critical thinker and almost an archetypal Communist true believer The interview at the beginning gives the impression of a man who had subjected himself to rigorous self criticism in order to adopt the standpoint of the proletariat , I.e the Leninist Party As such, much of this text is devoted to the political, theoretical, and I would even dare say ethical questions of being a Communist militant in the 1960 Louis Althusser strikes me as a contradiction at once a strikingly innovative and critical thinker and almost an archetypal Communist true believer The interview at the beginning gives the impression of a man who had subjected himself to rigorous self criticism in order to adopt the standpoint of the proletariat , I.e the Leninist Party As such, much of this text is devoted to the political, theoretical, and I would even dare say ethical questions of being a Communist militant in the 1960s.So what does this text have to offer leftist activists today On the one hand, much of it is given over to a way of speaking and thinking that is no longer tenable, especially in its scientific posture But on the other hand, there IS treasure here to be salvaged, for those willing to dig Most obviously, there is the essay on Ideology and the State , the politic...

English
03 May 2018

Louis Althusser