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On 14.11.2011 07:06, Manuel Barrera wrote:
<snip>
But I did, so, I'll just ask the question (you know, to get back to bein' historical an' all): Why exactly is
Althusser's waiting out the anti-communist '50's to emerge with a "left" critique against Stalinism and his
admitted (by Tomb, that is) failure to "establish the absolute scientificity [sic] of Marxist theory"
important? Does Tomb really believe that actually establishing Marxist theory as absolutely scientific would really
have prevented "party bosses, revisions, and rivals" from ignoring Marxist scientific principles or simply
betraying them? Wouldn't that simply be a function of their alien class philosophical, theoretical, and political
basis? What kind of useful "strategy" is inherent in sitting inside a Stalinist party for decades developing
a critique that ultimately failed?
I have a rather different take on Althusser from Richard. Long ago when
I was a student, I actually waded through all of Althusser's writings
then available in English, and came to the conclusion that what he was
doing was providing a sophisticated (and almost incomprehensiblle to
those unfamiliar with the vocabulary/jargon he was using) theoretical
justification for the fundamental politics of the PCF - even if he was
critical of some aspects.
It's a long time ago and I don't think I have the critique I wrote then
anymore and I've got no intention of going through his writings again -
once was more than enough - so I'm afraid I can't now provide any
justification for these conclusions.
As regards the mental health issues - I agree with Richard that they
have absolutely nothing to do with his value or otherwise as a
theoretician. On the killing of his wife - while I agree that there are
innumerable people with serious mental health issues who don't murder
their spouses, there are also others who do. The "reasons" they have are
as varied as their personal circumstances. I don't think it's possible
to draw any valid conclusions about their position on women's rights or
anything else from their actions without much more profound knowledge of
their state of mind than are available to us.
Einde O'Callaghan
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