Louis Althusser and French Epistemology (original) (raw)

Louis Althusser’s most famous works are probably Pour Marx (1965) and Lire le Capital (1965). In these works Althusser gives a radical, antihumanistic rereading of Marxism. And although he made some major changes in his theories during his later life, to one ‘thesis’ he remained loyal: Marxism is a science which opens up the ‘continent of history’. This however seems to be a rather strange claim, because Marxism seems to satisfy none of the traditional conditions of scientificity. So, how can Althusser make this claim? To make his claim plausible, it seems to be necessary to draw on an often forgotten tradition in French philosophy, namely ‘French epistemology’, and particularly the work of Gaston Bachelard. Using Bachelard’s writings on the ‘epistemological break’ and ‘epistemological obstacles’ a plausible reading of Althusser’s claim seems to be possible, but it raises problems as well: Bachelard’s work seems to be applicable above all on the ‘exact sciences’, such as chemistry, while Althusser’s intention is to apply it on the human sciences as well, namely the science of history and economics. So, to what extent does Althusser's claim remain tenable?