To philosophize with open eyes is to philosophize in the dark. Only the blind can look straight at the sun.
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the connection between economic production and the ideological constructs that influence society.
Louis Althusser articulates how the material aspects of production and circulation in an economy are intertwined with the ideological relations that shape human perceptions and interactions. He stresses that while material conditions are essential for reproducing social relations, the ideologies that emerge from those conditions also play a crucial role in the processes of production and circulation. Thus, understanding society requires acknowledging both its physical and ideological dimensions.
Themes
ProductionIdeologySocietyMaterialityRelations
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on Marxist theory, this quote can illustrate the relationship between economy and ideology.
More from Louis Althusser
All quotes →Occasionally, 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
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It is characteristic of ideology to impose self-evident facts as self-evident facts.
Louis AlthusserRead
Philosophy is, in the last instance, class struggle in the field of theory.
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