A Comparative Study Of Marx’s And Althusser’s Ideology Theories

Althusser made a unique contribution to the interpretation of Marx’s theory of ideology.On the surface,there are differences between Althusser’s and Marx’s ideological theories,but this difference cannot be entirely attributed to Althusser’s fundamental departure from Marx.We need to dialectically look at the differences between the two ideological theories,and explore a certain internal unity between the two to achieve a deep interpretation of ideological theory.Althusser sought to get rid of ideology and reshape the scientific form of Marxist philosophy.Althusser proposed a symptomatic reading method of reading Marx in order to discover Marx’s "problem-like" transformation.Specifically,Marx’s transformation from ideology to science was manifested in Marx’s thought,which was divided by Althusser into the "ideological" stage of youth and the scientific stage of "mature period".Althusser’s periodization of Marx’s thought was an important way for him to reshape the scientific form of Marxist philosophy.However,while arguing for the scientific nature of Marxist philosophy,Althusser seems to have destroyed the integrity of Marx’s thought,thus showing the difference between Marx and Althusser’s ideological theory.The idea of this paper is to explore the deep essence behind the differences between the two ideological theories by analyzing the differences between them.Through dialectical view of the differences between the two ideological theories,the common essence between the two is sought;By re-examining the superficial differences and common essence between Althusser and Marx’s ideological theories,and exploring the possibility of the internal unity of their ideological theories,the true Marx can be revealed.This article is divided into three main parts:The first part mainly analyzes the differences between Althusser and Marx in terms of ideological meaning,nature and history in the dimension of divergence,and explores the deep nature of this difference.It is further demonstrated that the difference between Althusser and Marx in ideological theory does not determine that Althusser completely deviated from Marx.The difference between Marx and Althusser’s ideological theory should be attributed to the difference in the starting point of their theories.Marx’s ideological theory was based on practical materialism,while Althusser took the structuralist epistemological rupture theory as the starting point of his ideological theory.The second part mainly analyzes the differences between Marx and Althusser on the issue of ideological theory in the dimension of Althusser’s thought,and tries to find the common essence between the two.Althusser’s specific analysis of ideological theory did not appear to be entirely consistent with Marx.However,when he examined the background of Marx’s ideological theory and the background of intellectual history,he followed the basic viewpoints of Marx’s thought to a certain extent,so that Althusser’s interpretation of Marx’s ideological theory had a certain inherent legitimacy.Thus,in the ideological dimension,Althusser seems to have returned to Marx’s ideological theory system.The third part is an examination of the possibility of reconciling the contradictions between Althusser and Marx’s ideological theories,in order to achieve an understanding of the internal unity of the two ideological theories.The expression of ideology "without history" and "eternal existence" seems to conflict on the surface,but in fact it has a certain internal unity.This inner unity is embodied in Althusser’s attempt to take Marx’s thought as a guide and follow the basic position of Marx’s historical materialism,so as to achieve an objective interpretation of Marx’s ideological theory.In this sense,Althusser’s new concept of ideology does not in essence go beyond the scope of Marx’s exploration.