{"product_id":"philosophy-and-the-spontaneous-philosophy-of-the-scientists-9781844677894","title":"Philosophy and the Spontaneous Philosophy of the Scientists","description":"The publication in 1965 of \u003ci\u003eFor Marx and Reading Capital \u003c\/i\u003eestablished Louis Althusser as one of the most original and controversial figures in the Western Marxist tradition; a thinker whose renewal of Marxism was to enjoy great influence over the next decade. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eCollected here are Althusser's most significant philosophical writings from 1965 to 1978; the majority previously untranslated. Intended to contribute, in his own words, to a \"left-wing critique of Stalinism that would help put some substance back into the revolutionary project here in the West,\" they are the record of a shared history. At the same time they chart Althusser's critique of the theoretical system unveiled in his own major works, and his developing practice of philosophy as a \"revolutionary weapon.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe collection opens with two lucid early articles--\"Theory, Theoretical Practice and Theoretical Formation\" and \"On Theoretical Work.\" The title piece--Althusser's celebrated lectures in the \"Philosophy Course for Scientists\"--is the fullest exploration of his new definition of philosophy as politics in the realm of theory; a conception which is further developed in \"Lenin and Philosophy.\" \"Is it Simple to be a Marxist in Philosophy?\" provides an invaluable account of Althusser's intellectual development. The volume concludes with two little-known late pieces--\"The Transformation of Philosophy,\" in which the paradoxical history of Marxist philosophy is investigated; and \"Marxism Today,\" a sober balance-sheet of the Marxist tradition. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAttesting to the unique place which Althusser has occupied in modern intellectual history--between a tradition of Marxism which he sought to reconstruct, and a \"post-Marxism\" which has eclipsed its predecessor--these texts are indispensable reading.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLouis Althusser\u003c\/b\u003e was born in Algeria in 1918 and died in France in 1990. He taught philosophy for many years at the Ecole Normale Superieur in Paris, and was a leading intellectual in the French Communist Party. His books include \u003ci\u003eFor Marx\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eReading Capital\u003c\/i\u003e (with Etienne Balibar); \u003ci\u003eEssays in Ideology\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003ePolitics and History: Montesquieu, Rousseau, Marx\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eMachiavelli and Us\u003c\/i\u003e; and \u003ci\u003eThe Spectre of Hegel\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Verso","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51749326192914,"sku":"9781844677894","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_2136aaf1-40ef-47a5-81bf-2c110f65afa7.jpg?v=1764077138","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/philosophy-and-the-spontaneous-philosophy-of-the-scientists-9781844677894","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}