Feuerbach or Spinoza

The alternative in the origins of Althusser’s Spinozism

Abstract

Althusser’s early theoretical development prior to his contribution to Marxist philosophy sheds light on some issues pertaining to his overall philosophical endeavor. His intellectual trajectory from the 1947 Mémoire on Hegel to his first 1959 book on Montesquieu could be defined as the contingency of the beginning of his philosophy. As is well known, although Spinoza would later play a pivotal role in Althusser’s philosophy, his name rarely appears in Althusser’s writings prior to the 1960s. Investigating the place of Spinoza in Althusser's early theorizing provides a better understanding of Althusser’s so-called Spinozist passion. Moreover, and more subtly, it provides a firmer grasp of the complex set of relations between the authors that shaped the contingency of the beginning of Althusser’s philosophy of the future. Althusser’s study of Ludwig Feuerbach ought be understood against this background.