To philosophize with open eyes is to philosophize in the dark. Only the blind can look straight at the sun.
Louis AlthusserRead
It is characteristic of ideology to impose self-evident facts as self-evident facts.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Ideologies often present certain beliefs as obviously true, without questioning their validity.
In this quote, Louis Althusser highlights how ideologies can masquerade subjective beliefs as objective truths. This characteristic of ideology can make people accept certain notions without critical thinking, leading to the reinforcement of established beliefs without scrutiny or challenge.
Themes
IdeologyTruthBeliefsCritical ThinkingSubjectivity
In practice
Example use cases
During a debate about societal values, I used this quote to emphasize the need for critical analysis of widely accepted norms.
More from Louis Althusser
All quotes βOccasionally, the whole class struggle may be summed up in the struggle for one word against another word. Certain words struggle amongst themselves as enemies. Other words are the site of an ambiguity: the stake in a decisive but undecided battle
Louis AlthusserRead
Relations of production are first reproduced by the materiality of the processes of production and circulation. But it should not be forgotten that ideological relations are immediately present in these same processes.
Louis AlthusserRead
Philosophy is, in the last instance, class struggle in the field of theory.
Louis AlthusserRead
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