Repository | Book | Chapter
(2006) Palgrave advances in continental political thought, Dordrecht, Springer.
More than a quarter of a century after Louis Althusser's heyday, one wonders how this rather troubled French professor managed to create such a buzz with the publication of only two books — Reading Capital and For Marx. The first was written in collaboration with students, and the other was a compilation of essays. In The Future Lasts Forever, his posthumous memoir that claims not to be one, it is often difficult to distinguish fact from fantasy. Althusser (alte Haüser, "old house" in Alsatian dialect) tells us that he knew very little of either the history of philosophy or Marx, and that he never quite managed to understand Freud ("He remains a closed book to me") despite the regular use of psychoanalytical concepts in his work. He also claims that he often learned by hearsay from what friends mentioned in conversations or from reading papers written by his students, a remark that will certainly strike a chord with many academics.
Publication details
Full citation:
Arditi, B. (2006)., Louis Althusser, in T. Carver & J. Martin (eds.), Palgrave advances in continental political thought, Dordrecht, Springer, pp. 182-195.
This document is unfortunately not available for download at the moment.