Epistemology and Society in Louis Althusser

The book interrogates two axes of Louis Althusser's work: epistemology and his conception of society. Rather than sectioning off his writings and choosing a point of greatest significance for critical examination, I try to reconstruct a possible path along each of the axes by leading his reasoning to a bifurcation point. In the case of epistemology, I direct the reflection to the final point where the previously criticised epistemological guarantees threaten to be reintroduced into the argument and suggest a possible way out by connecting his idea of a cut to the presupposition of the congenital unfinished nature of scientific reflection, on the one hand, and on the other, I tension his construction by referring it to the political sphere. With regard to his conception of society, I unfold his reflection by emphasising Althusser's attack on structuralism and a certain conception of totality. As I did with the first axis, I direct his argument to a point where two options become apparent: the circularity of reiterating what was once criticised or the immanent collapse of the idea of structure, at which point the possibility of another formulation opens up.

Autorentext

Igor Peres Jerônimo has a degree in Sociology from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). He obtained a master's degree in the same discipline from the Institute of Social and Political Studies (IESP) of the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), where he is currently developing a doctoral thesis.

Klappentext

The book interrogates two axes of Louis Althusser's work: epistemology and his conception of society. Rather than sectioning off his writings and choosing a point of greatest significance for critical examination, I try to reconstruct a possible path along each of the axes by leading his reasoning to a bifurcation point. In the case of epistemology, I direct the reflection to the final point where the previously criticised epistemological guarantees threaten to be reintroduced into the argument and suggest a possible way out by connecting his idea of a cut to the presupposition of the congenital unfinished nature of scientific reflection, on the one hand, and on the other, I tension his construction by referring it to the political sphere. With regard to his conception of society, I unfold his reflection by emphasising Althusser's attack on structuralism and a certain conception of totality. As I did with the first axis, I direct his argument to a point where two options become apparent: the circularity of reiterating what was once criticised or the immanent collapse of the idea of structure, at which point the possibility of another formulation opens up.