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The Humanist Cont...
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Louis Althusser (2003) The Humanist Controversy and Other Writings, ed. F. Matheron, trans. G. M. Goshgarian.
London: Verso, ISBN 1-85984-507-X.

Theory's Long March: Louis Althusser 1966-7

John Seed There has been something of an Althusser renaissance in the last decade or so. A plethora of mostly unpublished writings by Althusser appeared in France during the 1990s. These include five volumes of philosophical and political writings and two volumes of psychoanalytical writings. A variorum edition of Lire le Capital and a new edition of Pour Marx, with additional material by Etienne Balibar, were also published in 1996. In addition, two separate versions of what is sometimes called his 'autobiography', L'Avenir dure longtemps, suivi de Les Faits, have appeared, as have a collection of letters, his prison journals and letters, and the first volume of a substantial biography. Much of this newly published material has quickly found its way into English translation. In addition, there have been several valuable engagements in English with the work of Althusser during the last ten years or so (for instance: Resch, 1992; Elliott, 1994; Kaplan & Sprinkler, 1994, Callari & Ruccio, 1996; Butler 1997); recent special issues of Yale French Studies (1995) and Rethinking Marxism (1998) were also devoted to him. There is no sign of interest coming to a halt: 2003 saw the publication of useful monographs on Althusser by Warren Montag and Andrew Levine. The Humanist Controversy and Other Writings collects a number of important but unpublished texts, from Ecrits philosophiques et politiques, produced during the pivotal years 1966-67. With much of the material we are on familiar ground: the question of Marx's theoretical revolution. There is extended discussion of the epistemological break into the science of history inaugurated by The German Ideology in 1845. This is the primary concern of 'On Feuerbach', a substantial text of nearly 70 pages. It argues not only that Feuerbach's theoretical positions are incompatible with the historical materialism which Marx develops in his mature work, but that they embody the same procedures as every form of phenomenology and hermeneutics to the present day. The long introduction to 'The Humanist Controversy' is another careful critical account of the early writings of Marx and their relations to Hegel and Feuerbach. Althusser calls it 'my very brief analysis of the moments punctuating the theoretical history of the formation of Marx's thought' (266). And 'The Historical Task of Marxist Philosophy' covers much the same ground, though in a more direct pedagogic mode.1 Where this collection begins to break new ground is in the insights it provides

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