The BA thesis attempts to shed light on Althusser's understanding of Marx's philosophy and how this guides his own conception of philosophy. The thesis presents Althusser's basic points regarding (the problem of) Marx's philosophy, with an emphasis on Marx's antihumanism and antihistoricism, which enable him to move towards the scientific nature of his enterprise. Following Althusser’s and Lenin’s reading of Marx, the thesis presents the relationship between philosophy, science and politics. At the same time, throughout, the thesis tries to keep in mind the great philosophical problem of the dichotomy physis/necessity and thesis/contingency in mind, with respect to which it presents the relevance of the structuralist program, and how it is related to both Marx and Althusser. In connection to this dichotomy, the thesis tries to present especially the late Althusser, who resorts to the so-called materialism of encounter, which enables him to read Marx non-dialectically and escape the aporia which he falls into with the concept of overdetermination.
|
