How Can History Science Possible - Althusser 's Defense Of Historical Materialism

Louis Pierre Althusser, the well-known French representative philosopher of Marxism after WII, is of great significance to scientific marxism pondering both from the perspectives of collegiate and non-collegiate Marxist Criticism and Structuralism.This thesis aims at carving out the proof of Louis Pierre Althusser’s covert justification for Marxist historical theory as a kind of science by untangling Louis Pierre Althusser’s works and applying the theory of scientific revolution and paradigm shift in the field of philosophy of science. Althusser deems that there is a conversion from humanism historical philosophy into historical science from young Marx to Marx, which is one kind of paradigm shifts into another one(the paradigm shift from ideologies into science). Kuhn asserts that it not only demands the possibility of the new paradigm to explain more phenomena in reality but the recognition from the scientists community if one paradigm triumphs over another one. On the one hand, the scientists community must be included in the reproduction of ideologies brought by ideological state apparatus for science is a sort of life connexion.On the other hand, the paradigm shift of social science can not follow the pattern of the revolutions of natural science; it can only be a portion of ideological state apparatus and achieve it ’ s paradigm shift by enhancing the theoretical competency of the masses as a weapon under special conditions using violent forms. The materialism of the encounter during Althusser’s late years offers a thinking dimension equipped with a scientific paradigm shift in which the masses encounter The modern prince(the proletariat party)and the practice of the ideological revolution out of science itself and, besides the former one, the ideologies. In this way, historical materialism bears the possibility of being a sort of science.We may get lost in numerous fields of Louis Althusser’s theories of ideology if we do not notice this covert clue. This thesis tries to dig out Louis Althusser’s justification for historical materialism by untangling his different theories at different periods including theories about epistemological break, ideological state apparatus and the materialism of the encounter and knitting Louis Althusser’s theories of ideology together by using the theory of scientific revolution in the field of philosophy of science.