hockeyist (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} hockeyist) wrote,@ 2009-06-13 20:14:00 |
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на амазоне гениальная рецензия некоего майка из нью-йорка на версовскую компиляцию работ альтюссера "On ideology", вполне в стиле известных опусов о деррида капюшончатого негра с youtube:
"As Marx said, every child knows that a social formation which did not reproduce the conditions of production at the same time as it produced would not last a year."
This is from the first page. I don't know about the kids Althusser says Marx knows, but none of the ones I've ever taught have known this. I consider myself lucky if they all spell their names right. I was 25 before I could even approximate what that sentence meant. Maybe the kids in Germany were smarter than the ones now, who knows? That page really sets the tone for the rest of what's written.
Extremely obscure, impractical, jargon-filled, armchair academic Marxism from a Frenchman who assumes the entire world agrees with him and has a dog-eared copy of Das Kapital on his desk.
I've read it in English and French. It makes very little sense in either language. When it is coherent, it is impractical. The whole thing is written in a haughty tone, too.
Here's a chestnut - "Ideology has a material existence". How does Althusser explain this prima facie ridiculous notion? He doesn't. He admits as much when he writes:
"Of course, presented in affirmative form, this thesis is unproven. I simply ask that the reader be favourably disposed towards it, say, in the name of materialism. A long series of arguments would be necessary to prove it."
Basically, he just says, "Trust me on this one, guys. Proving it would take a lot of work." Great reasoning for a philosopher.
If you buy into the variety of anti-state Communism that Althusser is pitching (and I don't because historically it's failed every time), read Trotsky, at least he's coherent. Or if you just want a book on Marxism that's more academic, read something by Marx, Lukacs or Lenin. If you must read this, get it off Marxists.org for free, don't pay for it. Easily one of the worst things I've ever read in my life.
"As Marx said, every child knows that a social formation which did not reproduce the conditions of production at the same time as it produced would not last a year."
This is from the first page. I don't know about the kids Althusser says Marx knows, but none of the ones I've ever taught have known this. I consider myself lucky if they all spell their names right. I was 25 before I could even approximate what that sentence meant. Maybe the kids in Germany were smarter than the ones now, who knows? That page really sets the tone for the rest of what's written.
Extremely obscure, impractical, jargon-filled, armchair academic Marxism from a Frenchman who assumes the entire world agrees with him and has a dog-eared copy of Das Kapital on his desk.
I've read it in English and French. It makes very little sense in either language. When it is coherent, it is impractical. The whole thing is written in a haughty tone, too.
Here's a chestnut - "Ideology has a material existence". How does Althusser explain this prima facie ridiculous notion? He doesn't. He admits as much when he writes:
"Of course, presented in affirmative form, this thesis is unproven. I simply ask that the reader be favourably disposed towards it, say, in the name of materialism. A long series of arguments would be necessary to prove it."
Basically, he just says, "Trust me on this one, guys. Proving it would take a lot of work." Great reasoning for a philosopher.
If you buy into the variety of anti-state Communism that Althusser is pitching (and I don't because historically it's failed every time), read Trotsky, at least he's coherent. Or if you just want a book on Marxism that's more academic, read something by Marx, Lukacs or Lenin. If you must read this, get it off Marxists.org for free, don't pay for it. Easily one of the worst things I've ever read in my life.
