Editing Louis Althusser (section)

==Biography==
===Early life: 1918–1948===
Althusser was born in [[French Algeria]] in the town of [[Birmendreïs]], near [[Algiers]], to a ''[[pied-noir]]'' [[petit-bourgeois]] family from [[Alsace]], France.<!--{{sfnm|1a1=Stolze|1y=2013|1p=7|2a1=Lewis|2y=2014}} --> His father, Charles-Joseph Althusser, was a lieutenant in the French army and a bank clerk, while his mother, Lucienne Marthe Berger, a devout [[Catholic Church|Catholic]], worked as a schoolteacher.{{sfnm|1a1=Stolze|1y=2013|1p=7|2a1=Lewis|2y=2014}} According to his own memoirs, his Algerian childhood was prosperous; historian [[Martin Jay]] said that Althusser, along with [[Albert Camus]] and [[Jacques Derrida]], was "a product of the French colonial culture in Northern Africa."{{sfn|Jay|1984|p=391, note 18}} In 1930, his family moved to the French city of [[Marseille]] as his father was to be the director of the [[Compagnie Algérienne]] bank branch in the city.{{sfnm|1a1=Balibar|1y=2005b|1p=266|2a1=Stolze|2y=2013|2p=7}} Althusser spent the rest of his childhood there, excelling in his studies at the {{interlanguage link|Lycée Saint-Charles|fr|Lycée Saint-Charles (Marseille)}} and joining a [[scout group]].{{sfnm|1a1=Stolze|1y=2013|1p=7|2a1=Lewis|2y=2014}} A second displacement occurred in 1936 when Althusser settled in [[Lyon]] as a student at the [[Lycée du Parc]]. Later he was accepted by the highly regarded higher-education establishment (''[[Grandes écoles|grande école]]'') [[École Normale Supérieure]] (ENS) in Paris.{{sfn|Stolze|2013|p=7}} At the Lycée du Parc, Althusser was influenced by Catholic professors,{{efn|Among them, the philosophers [[Jean Guitton]] (1901–1999) and {{interlanguage link|Jean Lacroix (philosopher){{!}}Jean Lacroix|fr|Jean Lacroix}} (1900–1986) and the historian {{interlanguage link|Joseph Hours|fr|Joseph Hours}} (1896–1963).{{sfn|Lewis|2014|}}}} joined the Catholic youth movement [[Jeunesse Étudiante Chrétienne]],{{sfn|Lewis|2014|}} and wanted to be a [[Trappist]].{{sfn|Roudinesco|2008|p=110}} His interest in Catholicism coexisted with his [[communist]] ideology,{{sfn|Lewis|2014|}} and some critics argued that his early Catholic introduction affected the way he interpreted [[Karl Marx]].{{sfn|Jay|1984|p=391}}

[[Image:LyceeDuParcLyon.jpg|thumb|left|The Lycée du Parc, where Althusser studied for two years and was influenced by Catholic professors]]

After a two-year period of preparation (''[[Khâgne]]'') under [[Jean Guitton]] at the Lycée du Parc, Althusser was admitted into the ENS in July 1939.{{sfnm|1a1=Balibar|1y=2005b|1p=266|2a1=Roudinesco|2y=2008|2p=106}} But his attendance was deferred by many years because he was drafted into the French Army in September of that year in the run-up to [[World War II]] and, like most French soldiers following the [[Fall of France]], was captured by the Germans.<!--{{sfnm|1a1=Balibar|1y=2005b|1p=266|2a1=Stolze|2y=2013|2p=7|3a1=Lewis|3y=2014}} --> Seized in [[Vannes]] in June 1940, he was held in a [[prisoner-of-war camp]] in [[Schleswig-Holstein]], in Northern Germany, for the five remaining years of the war.{{sfnm|1a1=Balibar|1y=2005b|1p=266|2a1=Stolze|2y=2013|2p=7|3a1=Lewis|3y=2014}} In the camp, he was at first drafted to hard labour but ultimately reassigned to work in the infirmary after falling ill. This second occupation allowed him to read philosophy and literature.{{sfn|Ferretter|2006|pp=2–3}} In his memoirs, Althusser described the experiences of solidarity, political action, and community in the camp as the moment he first understood the idea of communism.{{sfn|Lewis|2014|}} Althusser recalled: "It was in prison camp that I first heard [[Marxism]] discussed by a Parisian lawyer in transit—and that I actually met a communist".{{sfn|Roudinesco|2008|p=106}} His experience in the camp also affected his lifelong bouts of mental instability, reflected in constant [[Major depressive disorder|depression]] that lasted until the end of life.{{sfnm|1a1=Stolze|1y=2013|1p=7|2a1=Lewis|2y=2014}} Psychoanalyst [[Élisabeth Roudinesco]] has argued that the absurd war experience was essential for Althusser's philosophical thought.{{sfn|Roudinesco|2008|p=106}}

Althusser resumed his studies at the ENS in 1945 to prepare himself for the ''[[agrégation]]'', an exam to teach philosophy in secondary schools.{{sfn|Lewis|2014|}} In 1946, Althusser met sociologist [[Hélène Rytmann]],{{efn|She was also known as Hélène Legotien and Hélène Legotien-Rytmann because "Legotien" had been her cover name in the Resistance and she continued to use it.{{sfn|Roudinesco|2008|p=168}} There is some divergence on how to spell her last name; some sources spell it as "Rytman",{{sfnm|1a1=Balibar|1y=2005b|2a1=Elliott|2y=2006|3a1=Lewis|3y=2014}} while others use "Rytmann".{{sfnm|1a1=Roudinesco|1y=2008|2a1=European Graduate School}} In Althusser's compilation of his letters to his wife, ''Lettres à Hélène'', he always addressed her as "Rytmann", although the book's own preface by [[Bernard-Henri Lévy]] calls her "Rytman".{{sfn|Althusser|2011}}}} a [[Jewish]] former [[French Resistance]] member with whom he was in a relationship until he killed her by strangulation in 1980.{{sfnm|1a1=Balibar|1y=2005b|1p=271|2a1=Roudinesco|2y=2008|2p=116}} That same year, he started a close friendly relationship with Jacques Martin, a translator of [[G. W. F. Hegel]] and [[Hermann Hesse]]. Martin, to whom Althusser dedicated his first book, would later commit suicide.{{sfn|Stolze|2013|p=7}} Martin was influential on Althusser's interest on reading the bibliography of [[Jean Cavaillès]], [[Georges Canguilhem]] and Hegel.{{sfnm|1a1=Roudinesco|1y=2008|1p=105|2a1=Stolze|2y=2013|2p=7}} Although Althusser remained a Catholic, he became more associated with left-wing groups, joining the "[[worker-priest]]s" movement{{sfn|Balibar|2005b|p=267}} and embracing a synthesis of Christian and Marxist thought.{{sfn|Lewis|2014|}} This combination may have led him to adopt [[German Idealism]] and Hegelian thought,{{sfn|Lewis|2014|}} as did Martin's influence and a renewed interest in Hegel in the 1930s and 1940s in France.{{sfn|Biard|1995|p=139}} In consonance, Althusser's master thesis to obtain his ''diplôme d'études supèrieures'' was "On Content in the Thought of G. W. F. Hegel" ("Du contenu dans la pensée de G. W. F. Hegel", 1947).{{sfnm|1a1=Ferretter|1y=2006|1p=3|2a1=Lewis|2y=2014}} Based on ''[[The Phenomenology of Spirit]]'', and under [[Gaston Bachelard]]'s supervision, Althusser wrote a dissertation on how Marx's philosophy refused to withdraw from the Hegelian [[master–slave dialectic]].{{sfn|Biard|1995|p=140}} According to the researcher Gregory Elliott, Althusser was a Hegelian at that time but only for a short period.{{sfn|Elliott|2006|p=335}}

===Academic life and Communist Party affiliation: 1948–1959===
[[File:Façade de l'École normale supérieure.JPG|thumb|The main entrance to the [[École Normale Supérieure]] on Rue d'Ulm, where Althusser established himself as well-known intellectual]]

In 1948, he was approved to teach in secondary schools but instead made a tutor at the ENS to help students prepare for their own ''agrégation''.{{sfnm|1a1=Ferretter|1y=2006|1p=3|2a1=Lewis|2y=2014}} His performance on the exam—he was the best ranked on the writing part and second on the oral module—guaranteed this change on his occupation.{{sfn|Lewis|2014|}} He was responsible for offering special courses and tutorials on particular topics and on particular figures from the history of philosophy.{{sfn|Lewis|2014|}} In 1954, he became {{lang|fr|secrétaire de l'école litteraire}} (secretary of the literary school), assuming responsibilities for management and direction of the school.{{sfn|Lewis|2014|}} Althusser was deeply influential at the ENS because of the lectures and conferences he organized with participation of leading French philosophers such as [[Gilles Deleuze]] and [[Jacques Lacan]].{{sfn|Stolze|2013|p=8}} He also influenced a generation of French philosophers and French philosophy in general{{sfn|Lewis|2014|}}—among his students were Derrida, [[Pierre Bourdieu]], [[Michel Foucault]], and [[Michel Serres]].{{sfn|Schrift|2006|p=86}} In total, Althusser spent 35 years in the ENS, working there until November 1980.{{sfnm|1a1=Jackson|1y=1996|1p=136|2a1=Schrift|2y=2006|2p=86}}

Parallel to his academic life, Althusser joined the [[French Communist Party]] (''Parti communiste français'', PCF) in October 1948.<!--{{sfn|Ferretter|2006|p=3}} --> In the early postwar years, the PCF was one of the most influential political forces and many French intellectuals joined it.<!--{{sfn|Ferretter|2006|p=3}} --> Althusser himself declared, "Communism was in the air in 1945, after the German defeat, the victory at Stalingrad, and the hopes and lessons of the Resistance."{{sfn|Ferretter|2006|p=3}} Althusser was primarily active on the "Peace Movement" section and kept for a few years his Catholic beliefs;{{sfn|Ferretter|2006|p=3}} in 1949, he published in the ''L'Évangile captif'' (The captive gospel), the tenth book of the Jeunesse de l'Église (the youth wing of Church), an article on the historic situation of Catholicism in response to the question: "Is the good news preached to the men today?"{{sfn|Balibar|2005b|p=267}} In it, he wrote about the relationship between the Catholic Church and the labour movement, advocating at the same time for social emancipation and the Church "religious reconquest".{{sfn|Biard|1995|p=140}} There was mutual hostility between these two organizations—in the early 1950s, the Vatican prohibited Catholics from membership in the worker priests and left-wing movements—and it certainly affected Althusser since he firmly believed in this combination.{{sfn|Ferretter|2006|p=3}}

Initially afraid of joining the party because of ENS's opposition to communists, Althusser did so when he was made a tutor—when membership became less likely to affect his employment—and he even created at ENA the ''Cercle Politzer'', a Marxist study group.<!--{{sfn|Lewis|2014|}} --> Althusser also introduced colleagues and students to the party and worked closely with the communist cell of the ENS.<!--{{sfn|Lewis|2014|}} --> But his professionalism made him avoid Marxism and Communism in his classes; instead, he helped students depending on the demands of their ''agrégation''.{{sfn|Lewis|2014|}} In the early 1950s, Althusser distanced himself from his youthful political and philosophical ideals{{sfn|Stolze|2013|p=8}} and from Hegel, whose teachings he considered a "bourgeois" philosophy.{{sfn|Biard|1995|p=140}} Starting from 1948, he studied history of philosophy and gave lectures on it; the first was about [[Plato]] in 1949.{{sfn|IMEC|1997|p=82}} In 1949–1950, he gave a lecture about [[René Descartes]],{{efn|He also lectured about Descartes' thought relation to [[Nicolas Malebranche]], as can be found in an inventory of his archives by the [[Institute for Contemporary Publishing Archives]] (L'Institut mémoires de l'édition contemporaine, IMEC).{{sfn|IMEC|1997|p=84}} }} and wrote a thesis titled "Politics and Philosophy in the Eighteenth Century" and a small study on [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]]'s "[[Second Discourse]]". He presented the thesis to [[Jean Hyppolite]] and [[Vladimir Jankélévitch]] in 1950 but it was rejected.{{sfn|Schrift|2006|p=86}} These studies were nonetheless valuable because Althusser later used them to write his book about [[Montesquieu]]'s philosophy and an essay on Rousseau's ''[[The Social Contract]]''.{{sfn|Jay|1984|p=393}} Indeed, his first and the only book-length study published during his lifetime was ''Montesquieu, la politique et l'histoire'' ("Montesquieu: Politics and History") in 1959.{{sfnm|1a1=Jay|1y=1984|1p=393|2a1=Stolze|2y=2013|2p=8|3a1=Lewis|3y=2014}} He also lectured on Rousseau from 1950 to 1955,{{sfn|IMEC|1997|p=86}} and changed his focus to philosophy of history, also studying [[Voltaire]], [[Condorcet]], and [[Claude Adrien Helvétius|Helvétius]], which resulted in a 1955–1956 lecture on "Les problèmes de la philosophie de l'histoire".{{sfnm|1a1=IMEC|1y=1997|1p=94|2a1=Althusser|2y=2006|2p="Sommaire"}} This course along with others on [[Machiavelli]] (1962), 17th- and 18th-century [[political philosophy]] (1965–1966), [[John Locke|Locke]] (1971), and [[Hobbes]] (1971–1972) were later edited and released as a book by François Matheron in 2006.{{sfnm|1a1=IMEC|1y=1997|1p=85|2a1=Althusser|2y=2006|2p="Sommaire"}} From 1953 to 1960, Althusser basically did not publish on Marxist themes, which in turn gave him time to focus on his teaching activities and establish himself as a reputable philosopher and researcher.{{sfn|Kelly|1982|p=119}} <!-- Relevant? In 1955, for example, he published an open letter titled "The Objectivity of History" ("Sur l'objectivité de l'histoire") to [[Paul Ricœur]] in the journal ''Revue de l'enseignement philosophique''. Dedicated to the scientific bases of historical analysis, it was response to the tough criticism Ricœur gave to [[Raymond Aron]]'s ''Introduction to the Philosophy of History''.{{sfn|Montag|2013|p=38}} -->

===Major works, ''For Marx'' and ''Reading Capital'': 1960–1968===
Althusser resumed his Marxist-related publications in 1960 as he translated, edited, and published a collection directed by Hyppolite about [[Ludwig Feuerbach]]'s works.{{sfn|Stolze|2013|p=8}} The objective of this endeavour was to identify Feuerbach's influence on Marx's early writings, contrasting it with the absence of his thought on Marx's mature works.{{sfn|Lewis|2014|}} This work spurred him to write "On the Young Marx: Theoretical Questions" ("Sur le jeune Marx&nbsp;– Questions de théorie", 1961).{{sfn|Lewis|2014|}} Published in the journal ''La Pensée'', it was the first in a series of articles about Marx that were later collected in his most famous book ''[[For Marx]]''.{{sfn|Balibar|2005b|p=267}} He inflamed the French debate on Marx and Marxist philosophy, and gained a considerable number of supporters.{{sfn|Lewis|2014|}} Inspired by this recognition, he started to publish more articles on Marxist thought; in 1964, Althusser published an article titled "Freud and Lacan" in the journal ''La Nouvelle Critique'', which greatly influenced the [[Freudo-Marxism#Althusser|Freudo-Marxism]] thought.{{sfn|Balibar|2005b|p=267}} At the same time, he invited Lacan to a lecture on [[Baruch Spinoza]] and the fundamental concepts of psychoanalysis.{{sfn|Balibar|2005b|p=267}} The impact of the articles led Althusser to change his teaching style at the ENS,{{sfn|Lewis|2014|}} and he started to minister a series of seminars on the following topics: "On the Young Marx" (1961–1962), "The Origins of Structuralism" (1962–1963; it versed{{clarify|date=May 2023}} on Foucault's ''[[History of Madness]]'', which Althusser highly appreciated{{sfn|Roudinesco|2008|pp=105–106}}), "Lacan and Psychoanalysis" (1963–1964), and ''Reading Capital'' (1964–1965).{{sfn|Balibar|2005b|p=267}} These seminars aimed for a "return to Marx" and were attended by a new generation of students.{{efn|This include [[Étienne Balibar]] (1942–), [[Alain Badiou]] (1937–), [[Pierre Macherey]] (1938–), [[Dominique Lecourt]] (1944–), [[Régis Debray]] (1940–), [[Jacques Rancière]] (1940–), and [[Jacques-Alain Miller]] (1944–).{{sfn|Schrift|2006|p=86}} }}{{sfn|Schrift|2006|p=86}}

''For Marx'' (a collection of works published between 1961 and 1965) and ''[[Reading Capital]]'' (in collaboration with some of his students), both published in 1965, brought international fame to Althusser.{{sfn|Balibar|2005b|pp=267–268}} Despite being criticized widely,{{sfn|Balibar|2005b|p=268}} these books made Althusser a sensation in French intellectual circles{{sfn|Levine|1999|p=23}} and one of the leading theoreticians of the PCF.{{sfn|Stolze|2013|p=8}} He supported a [[structuralism|structuralist]] view of Marx's work, influenced by Cavaillès and Canguilhem,{{sfn|Schrift|2006|p=87}} affirming that Marx laid the "cornerstones" of a new science, incomparable to all non-Marxist thought, of which, from 1960 to 1966, he espoused the fundamental principles.{{sfn|Ferretter|2006|p=3}} Critiques were done to [[Stalin's cult of personality]] and Althusser defended what he called "theoretical [[anti-humanism#Structuralism|anti-humanism]]", as an alternative to [[Stalinism]] and the [[Marxist humanism]]—both popular at the time.{{sfnm|1a1=Balibar|1y=2005b|1p=267|2a1=Lewis|2y=2014}} At mid-decade, his popularity grew to the point that it was virtually impossible to have an intellectual debate about political or ideological theoretical questions without mentioning his name.{{sfn|Cotten|1979|p=150}} Althusser's ideas were influential enough to arouse the creation of a young militants group to dispute the power within the PCF.{{sfn|Lewis|2014|}} Nevertheless, the official position of the party was still Stalinist Marxism, which was criticized both from [[Maoist]] and humanist groups.<!--{{sfn|Jay|1984|p=394}} --> Althusser was initially careful not to identify with Maoism but progressively agreed with its critique of Stalinism.{{sfn|Jay|1984|p=394}} At the end of 1966, Althusser even published an unsigned article titled "On the Cultural Revolution", in which he considered the beginning of the [[Chinese Cultural Revolution]] as "a historical fact without precedent" and of "enormous theoretical interest".{{sfn|Elliott|2006|p=174}} Althusser mainly praised the non-bureaucratic, non-party, mass organizations in which, in his opinion, the "Marxist principles regarding the nature of the ideological' were fully applied.{{sfn|Elliott|2006|p=176}}

Key events in the theoretical struggle took place in 1966. In January, there was a conference of communist philosophers in [[Choisy-le-Roi]];{{sfn|Kelly|1982|p=142}} Althusser was absent but [[Roger Garaudy]], the official philosopher of the party, read an indictment that opposed the "theoretical anti-humanism".{{sfn|Balibar|2005b|p=268}} The controversy was the pinnacle of a long conflict between the supporters of Althusser and Garaudy. In March, in [[Argenteuil]], the theses of Garaudy and Althusser were formally confronted by the PCF Central Committee, chaired by [[Louis Aragon]].{{sfn|Balibar|2005b|p=268}} The Party decided to keep Garaudy's position as the official one,{{sfn|Schrift|2006|p=87}} and even [[Lucien Sève]]—who was a student of Althusser at the beginning of his teaching at the ENS—supported it, becoming the closest philosopher to the PCF leadership.{{sfn|Balibar|2005b|p=268}} General secretary of the party, [[Waldeck Rochet]] said that "Communism without humanism would not be Communism".{{sfn|Ferretter|2006|p=69}} Even if he was not publicly censured nor expelled from the PCF, as were 600 Maoist students, the support of Garaudy resulted in a further reduction of Althusser's influence in the party.{{sfn|Schrift|2006|p=87}}

Still in 1966, Althusser published in the ''[[Cahiers pour l'Analyse]]'' the article "On the 'Social Contract'" ("Sur le 'Contrat Social'"), a course about Rousseau he had given at the ENS, and "Cremonini, Painter of the Abstract" ("Cremonini, peintre de l'abstrait") about Italian painter [[Leonardo Cremonini]].{{sfn|Balibar|2005b|p=269}} In the following year, he wrote a long article titled "The Historical Task of Marxist Philosophy" ("La tâche historique de la philosophie marxiste") that was submitted to the Soviet journal ''Voprossi Filosofii''; it was not accepted but was published a year later in a Hungarian journal.{{sfn|Balibar|2005b|p=269}} In 1967–1968, Althusser and his students organized an ENS course titled "Philosophy Course for Scientists" ("Cours de philosophie pour scientifiques") that would be interrupted by [[May 1968 events in France|May 1968 events]]. Some of the material of the course was reused in his 1974 book ''Philosophy and the Spontaneous Philosophy of the Scientists'' (''Philosophie et philosophie spontanée des savants'').{{sfn|Balibar|2005b|p=269}} Another Althusser's significant work{{sfn|Stolze|2013|pp=8–9}} from this period was "Lenin and Philosophy", a lecture first presented in February 1968 at the {{interlanguage link|French Society of Philosophy|fr|Société française de philosophie}}.{{sfn|Balibar|2005b|p=269}}

===May 1968, Eurocommunism debates, and auto-critique: 1968–1978===
During [[May 68]], the tumultuous events of May 1968 in France, Althusser was hospitalized because of a depressive breakdown and was absent from the [[Latin Quarter, Paris|Latin Quarter]]. Many of his students participated in the events, and [[Régis Debray]] in particular became an international celebrity revolutionary.{{sfn|Jay|1984|p=395}} Althusser's initial silence{{sfn|Jay|1984|p=395}} was met with criticism by the protesters, who wrote on walls: "Of what use is Althusser?" ("A quoi sert Althusser?").{{sfn|Majumdar|1995|p=22}} Later, Althusser was ambivalent about it; on the one hand, he was not supportive of the movement{{sfn|Stolze|2013|p=8}} and he criticized the movement as an "ideological revolt of the mass",{{sfn|Balibar|2005b|p=270}} adopting the PCF official argument that an "infantile disorder" of anarchistic utopianism that had infiltrated the student movement.{{sfn|Jay|1984|pp=395–396}} On the other hand, he called it "the most significant event in Western history since the Resistance and the victory over Nazism" and wanted to reconcile the students and the PCF.{{sfn|Jay|1984|pp=395–396, note 44}} Nevertheless, the Maoist journal ''La Cause du peuple'' called him a [[Revisionism (Marxism)|revisionist]],{{sfn|Balibar|2005b|p=270}} and he was condemned by former students, mainly by [[Jacques Rancière]].{{sfn|Stolze|2013|p=8}} After it, Althusser went through a phase of "self-criticism" that resulted in the book ''[[Essays in Self-criticism]]'' (''Éléments d'autocritique'', 1974) in which he revisited some of his old positions, including his support of [[Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia|the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia]].{{sfnm|1a1=Jay|1y=1984|1p=397|2a1=Balibar|2y=2005a|2p=XII|3a1=Stolze|3y=2013|3p=8}}

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| footer = While Althusser was criticized in France by his former students, such as [[Jacques Rancière]] (''right''), his influence in Latin America grew, as exemplified by [[Marta Harnecker]] (''left'').
}}

In 1969, Althusser started an unfinished work{{efn|Balibar referred to it as "L'Etat, le Droit, la Superstructure" ("The State, the Law, the Superstructure"),{{sfn|Balibar|2005b|p=270}} while Elliott cited it as "De la superstructure (Droit-État-Idéologie)" ("On the Superstructure (Law-State-Ideology)").{{sfn|Elliott|2006|p=204, 395}} The IMEC archives report the existence of "De la superstructure", latter called "Qu'est-ce que la philosophie marxiste-léniniste?" ("What is the Marxist-Lenist philosophy?") and reworked as "La reproduction des rapports de production" ("The reproduction of relations of production"), but that ultimately returned to its first title.{{sfn|IMEC|1997|p=44–46}} }} that was only released in 1995 as ''Sur la reproduction'' ("On the Reproduction").<!--{{sfn|Balibar|2005b|p=270}} --> However, from these early manuscripts, he developed "[[Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses]]", which was published in the journal ''La Pensée'' in 1970,{{sfnm|1a1=IMEC|1y=1997|1p=44|2a1=Balibar|2y=2005b|2p=270|3a1=Elliott|3y=2006|3p=204}} and became very influential on ideology discussions.{{sfn|Elliott|2006|pp=203; 310, note 16}} In the same year, Althusser wrote "Marxism and Class Struggle" ("Marxisme et lutte de classe") that would be the foreword to the book ''The Basic Concepts of Historical Materialism'' of his former student, the Chilean Marxist sociologist [[Marta Harnecker]].{{sfnm|1a1=Balibar|1y=2005a|1p=XII|2a1=Balibar|2y=2005b|2p=270}} By this time, Althusser was very popular in Latin America: some leftist activists and intellectuals saw him almost as a new Marx, although his work has been the subject of heated debates and sharp criticism.{{sfn|Balibar|2005b|p=270}} As an example of this popularity, some of his works were first translated to Spanish than into English, and others were released in book format first in Spanish and then in French.{{efn|For example, "Théorie, pratique théorique et formation théorique. Idéologie et lutte idéologique" was published in ''Casa de las Americas'' (Havana), no. 34, 1966, pp. 5–31, but was only translated into English in 1990.{{sfn|Elliott|2006|p=391}} The same article was first published in book-form as ''La filosofía como arma de la revolución'' in 1968.{{sfn|Anderson|1989|p=84}} Some of his articles on the debate over humanism were also only published in Spanish as ''Polemica sobre Marxismo y Humanismo'' that same year.{{sfn|Elliott|2006|p=395}} }} At the turn from the 1960s to the 1970s, Althusser's major works were translated into English—''For Marx'', in 1969, and ''Reading Capital'' in 1970—disseminating his ideas among the English-speaking Marxists.{{sfn|Levine|1981|p=243}}

In the early 1970s, the PCF was, as most of European Communist parties, in a period of internal conflicts on strategic orientation that occurred against the backdrop of the emergence of [[Eurocommunism]].<!--{{sfn|Benton|1984|p=152}} --> In this context, Althusserian structuralist Marxism was one of the more or less defined strategic lines.{{sfn|Benton|1984|p=152}} Althusser participated in various public events of the PCF, most notably the public debate "Communists, Intellectuals and Culture" ("Les communistes, les intellectuels et la culture") in 1973.{{sfn|Balibar|2005b|p=271}} He and his supporters contested the party's leadership over its decision to abandon the notion of the "[[dictatorship of the proletariat]]" during its twenty-second congress in 1976.{{sfnm|1a1=Benton|1y=1984|1p=153|2a1=Stolze|2y=2013|2p=8}} The PCF considered that in the European context it was possible to have a peaceful transition to socialism,{{sfn|Benton|1984|p=153}} which Althusser saw as "a new opportunistic version of Marxist Humanism".{{sfn|Jay|1984|p=420}} In a lecture given to the [[Union of Communist Students]] in the same year, he criticized above all the form in which this decision was taken. According to Althusser—echoing his notion of "French misery" exposed on ''For Marx''—the party demonstrated a contempt for the materialist theory when it suppressed a "scientific concept".{{sfn|Balibar|2005b|pp=271–272}} This struggle ultimately resulted in the debacle of the fraction "Union of the Left" and an open letter written by Althusser and five other intellectuals in which they asked for "a real political discussion in the PCF".{{sfnm|1a1=Jay|1y=1984|1pp=420–421|2a1=Balibar|2y=2005b|2p=273}} That same year, Althusser also published a series of articles in the newspaper ''[[Le Monde]]'' under the title of "What Must Change in the Party".{{sfnm|1a1=Balibar|1y=2005b|1p=273|2a1=Stolze|2y=2013|2p=8}} Published between 25 and 28 April, they were expanded and reprinted in May 1978 by [[François Maspero]] as the book ''Ce qui ne peut plus durer dans le parti communiste''.{{sfn|Elliott|2006|p=401}} Between 1977 and 1978, Althusser mainly elaborated texts criticizing Eurocommunism and the PCF. "Marx in his Limits" ("Marx dans ses limits"), an abandoned manuscript written in 1978, argued that there was no Marxist theory of the state; it was only published in 1994 in the ''Écrits philosophiques et politiques I''.{{sfnm|1a1=Elliott|1y=2006|1pp=366, 401|2a1=Diefenbach et al.|2y=2013|2p=193}} The Italian Communist newspaper ''[[Il manifesto]]'' allowed Althusser to develop new ideas on a conference held in Venice about "Power and Opposition in Post-Revolutionary Societies" in 1977.{{sfn|Callinicos|1982|p=5}} His speeches resulted into the articles "The [[Crisis of Marxism]]" ("La crisi del marxismo") and "Marxism as a 'finite' theory" in which he stressed "something vital and alive can be liberated by this crisis": the perception of Marxism as a theory that originally only reflected Marx's time and then needed to be completed by a state theory.{{sfn|Diefenbach et al.|2013|pp=193–194}} The former was published as "Marxism Today" ("Marxismo oggi") in the 1978 Italian ''Enciclopedia Europea''.{{sfnm|1a1=Lazarus|1y=1993|1p=179|2a1=Balibar|2y=2005b|2p=272|3a1=Elliott|3y=2006|3p=366|4a1=Lewis|4y=2016|4p=39}} The latter text was included in a book published in Italy, ''Discutere lo Stato'', and he criticized the notion of "government party" and defended the notion of a revolutionary party "out of state".{{sfnm|1a1=Lazarus|1y=1993|1p=179|2a1=Balibar|2y=2005b|2p=272}}

During the 1970s, Althusser's institutional roles at the ENS increased but he still edited and published his and other works in the series ''Théorie'', with François Maspero.{{sfn|Lewis|2014}} Among the essays published, there was "Response to John Lewis", a 1973 reply of an English Communist's defence of Marxist Humanism.{{sfnm|1a1=Jay|1y=1984|1p=397|2a1=Balibar|2y=2005b|2pp=270–271}} Two years later, he concluded his ''[[Doctorat d'État]]'' (State doctorate) in the [[University of Picardie Jules Verne]] and acquired the right to direct research on the basis of his previously published work.{{sfnm|1a1=Balibar|1y=2005b|1p=271|2a1=Schrift|2y=2006|2pp=86–87|3a1=Lewis|3y=2014}} Some time after this recognition, Althusser married Hélène Rytmann.{{sfn|Lewis|2014}} In 1976, he compiled several of his essays written between 1964 and 1975 to publish ''Positions''.{{sfnm|1a1=Balibar|1y=2005a|1p=XII|2a1=Elliott|2y=2006|2p=398}} These years would be a period in which his work was very intermittent;{{sfn|Balibar|2005b|p=272}} he gave a conference titled "The Transformation of Philosophy" ("La transformation de la philosophie") in two Spanish cities, first [[Granada]] and then in [[Madrid]], in March 1976.{{sfnm|1a1=Corpet|1y=1994|1p=10|2a1=Lewis|2y=2014}} The same year he gave a lecture in Catalonia titled "Quelques questions de la crise de la théorie marxiste et du mouvement communiste international" ("Some Questions on the Crisis of Marxist Theory and the International Communist Movement") in which Althusser outlined [[empiricism]] as the main enemy of class struggle.{{sfnm|1a1=Balibar|1y=2005b|1p=272|2a1=Elliott|2y=2006|2p=398}} He also started a rereading of Machiavelli that would influence his later work;{{sfn|Lewis|2016|p=29}} he worked between 1975 and 1976 on "Machiavel et nous" ("Machiavelli and Us"), a draft, only published posthumously, based on a 1972 lecture,{{sfnm|1a1=Elliott|1y=2001|1p=xi|2a1=Diefenbach et al.|2y=2013|2p=61}} and also wrote for the [[Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques|National Foundation of Political Science]] a piece titled "Machiavelli's Solitude" ("Solitude de Machiavel", 1977).{{sfn|Balibar|2005b|p=273}} In Spring 1976, requested by [[Léon Chertok]] to write for the International Symposium on the Unconscious at [[Tbilisi]], he drafted a presentation titled "The Discovery of Dr. Freud" ("La découverte du docteur Freud").{{sfnm|1a1=Balibar|1y=2005b|1p=273|2a1=Corpet|2y=2005|2p=79}} After sending it to Chertok and some friends, he was unsettled by the requested criticism he received by Jacques Nassif and Roudinesco, and then, by December, he wrote a new essay, "On Marx and Freud".{{sfn|Corpet|2005|p=80}} He could not attend the event in 1979 and asked Chertok to replace the texts, but Chertok published the first without his consent.{{sfnm|1a1=Balibar|1y=2005b|1p=273|2a1=Corpet|2y=2005|2pp=80–81}} This would become a public "affair" in 1984 when Althusser finally noticed it by the time Chertok republished it in a book titled ''Dialogue franco-soviétique, sur la psychanalyse''.{{sfnm|1a1=Balibar|1y=2005b|1p=273|2a1=Corpet|2y=2005|2p=81}}

=== Killing of Rytmann and late years: 1978–1990 ===
After the PCF and the left were defeated in the [[1978 French legislative election|French legislative elections of 1978]], Althusser's bouts of depression became more severe and frequent.{{sfn|Lewis|2014}} In March 1980, Althusser interrupted the dissolution session of the [[École Freudienne de Paris]], and, "in the name of the analysts", called Lacan a "beautiful and pitiful harlequin."{{sfn|Balibar|2005b|p=273}} Later, he went through a [[hiatal hernia]]-removal surgery as he had difficulties breathing while eating.{{sfn|Roudinesco|2008|p=113}} According to Althusser himself, the operation caused his physical and mental state to deteriorate; in particular, he developed a persecution complex and suicidal thoughts. He would recall later:
{{blockquote|I wanted not only to destroy myself physically but to wipe out all trace of my time on earth: in particular, to destroy every last one of my books and all my notes, and burn the École Normale, and also, "if possible," suppress Hélène herself while I still could.{{sfn|Roudinesco|2008|p=113}}}}

After the surgery, in May, he was hospitalized for most of the summer in a Parisian clinic. His condition did not improve, but in early October he was sent home.{{sfn|Balibar|2005b|p=273}} Upon returning, he wanted to get away from ENS and even proposed to buy Roudinesco's house.{{sfn|Roudinesco|2008|p=113}} He and Rytmann were also convinced about the "human decline", and so he tried to talk to the [[Pope John Paul II]] through his former professor Jean Guitton.{{sfn|Roudinesco|2008|p=114}} Most of the time, however, he and his wife spent locked in their ENS apartment.{{sfn|Roudinesco|2008|p=114}} In the fall of 1980, Althusser's psychiatrist [[René Diatkine]], who by now was also treating Althusser's wife Hélène Rytmann,{{sfnm|1a1=Kirshner|1y=2003|1p=219|2a1=Roudinesco|2y=2008|2p=121}} recommended that Althusser be hospitalized, but the couple refused.{{sfn|Kirshner|2003|p=235}}

{{rquote|right|Before me: Hélène lying on her back, also wearing a dressing gown.&nbsp;... Kneeling beside her, leaning over her body, I am engaged in massaging her neck.&nbsp;... I press my two thumbs into the hollow of flesh that borders the top of the sternum, and, applying force, I slowly reach, one thumb toward the right, one thumb toward the left at an angle, the firmer area below the ears.&nbsp;... Hélène's face is immobile and serene, her open eyes are fixed on the ceiling. And suddenly I am struck with terror: her eyes are interminably fixed, and above all here is the tip of her tongue lying, unusually and peacefully, between her teeth and her lips. I had certainly seen corpses before, but I had never seen the face of a strangled woman in my life. And yet I know that this is a strangled woman. What is happening? I stand up and scream: I've strangled Hélène!|Althusser, ''L'avenir dure longtemps''{{sfn|Roudinesco|2008|p=1992}} }}

On 16 November 1980, Althusser strangled Rytmann in their ENS room. He himself reported the murder to the doctor in residence who contacted psychiatric institutions.{{sfn|European Graduate School}} Even before the police arrival, the doctor and the director of ENS decided to hospitalize him in the Sainte-Anne hospital and a psychiatric examination was conducted on him.{{sfnm|1a1=Poisson|1y=1998|1p=107|2a1=Balibar|2y=2005b|2p=273}} Due to his mental state, Althusser was deemed to not understand the charges or the process to which he was to be submitted, so he remained at the hospital.{{sfn|Lewis|2014}} The psychiatric assessment concluded he should not be criminally charged, based on article 64 of the [[French Penal Code of 1810|French Penal Code]], which stated that "there is neither crime nor delict where the suspect was in a state of dementia at the time of the action".{{sfn|Lewis|2014}} The report said Althusser killed Rytmann in the course of an acute crisis of melancholy, without even realizing it, and that the "wife-murder by manual strangulation was committed without any additional violence, in the course of [an] iatrogenic hallucinatory episode complicated by melancholic depression."{{sfn|Roudinesco|2008|p=103}} As a result, he lost his civil rights, entrusted to a representative of the law, and he was forbidden to sign any documents.{{sfn|Poisson|1998|p=107}} In February 1981, the court ruled Althusser as having been mentally irresponsible when he committed the murder, therefore he could not be prosecuted and was not charged.{{sfnm|1a1=Poisson|1y=1998|1p=107|2a1=European Graduate School}} Nonetheless, a warrant of confinement was subsequently issued by the [[Paris police prefecture]];{{sfn|Roudinesco|2008|p=108}} the [[Ministry of National Education (France)|Ministry of National Education]] mandated his retirement from the ENS;{{sfn|Balibar|2005b|p=274}} and the ENS requested his family and friends to clear out his apartment.{{sfn|Roudinesco|2008|p=108}} In June, he was transferred to the L'Eau-Vive clinic at [[Soisy-sur-Seine]].{{sfnm|1a1=Balibar|1y=2005b|1pp=273–274|2a1=Roudinesco|2y=2008|2p=108}}

The murder of Rytmann attracted much media attention, and there were several requests to treat Althusser as an ordinary criminal.{{sfn|Roudinesco|2008|pp=101–102}} The newspaper ''[[Minute (French newspaper)|Minute]]'', journalist [[Dominique Jamet]] and Minister of Justice [[Alain Peyrefitte]] were among those who accused Althusser of having "privileges" because of the fact he was Communist. From this point of view, Roudinesco wrote, Althusser was three times a criminal. First, the philosopher had legitimated the current of thought judged responsible for the [[Gulag]]; second, he praised the Chinese Cultural Revolution as an alternative to both capitalism and Stalinism; and finally because he had, it was said, corrupted the elite of French youth by introducing the cult of a criminal ideology into the heart of one of the best French institutions.{{sfn|Roudinesco|2008|p=103}} Philosopher [[Pierre-André Taguieff]] went further on claiming Althusser taught his students to perceive crimes positively, as akin to a revolution.{{sfn|Roudinesco|2008|p=169}} Five years after the murder, a critique by ''Le Monde''{{'s}} [[Claude Sarraute]] would have a great impact on Althusser.{{sfn|European Graduate School}} She compared his case to the situation of [[Issei Sagawa]], who killed and cannibalized a woman in France, but whose psychiatric diagnosis absolved him. Sarraute criticized the fact that, when prestigious names are involved, a lot is written about them but that little is written about the victim.{{sfnm|1a1=Roudinesco|1y=2008|p=98|2a1=European Graduate School}} Althusser's friends persuaded him to speak in his defense, and the philosopher wrote an autobiography in 1985.{{sfn|European Graduate School}} He showed the result, ''L'avenir dure longtemps'',{{efn|Taken from a phrase by [[Charles de Gaulle]], its literal translation is "the future lasts a long time".{{sfn|Poisson|1998|p=108}} Several biographers and sources refer to it as ''The Future Lasts A Long Time''.{{sfnm|1a1=Elliott|1y=2006|2a1=Roudinesco|2y=2008|3a1=European Graduate School}} This was the title of the British version published by [[Chatto & Windus]].{{sfn|Elliott|2006|p=318}} The US version by [[The New York Press]], however, adopts the title ''The Future Lasts Forever''.{{sfnm|1a1=Poisson|1y=1998|1p=124|2a1=Elliott|2y=2006|2p=318}} }} to some of his friends and considered publishing it, but he never sent it to a publisher and locked it in his desk drawer.{{sfnm|1a1=Balibar|1y=2005b|1p=274|2a1=Roudinesco|2y=2008|2p=110}} The book was only published posthumously in 1992.{{sfnm|1a1=Roudinesco|1y=2008|1p=100|2a1=European Graduate School}}

Despite the critics, some of his friends, such as Guitton and Debray, defended Althusser, saying the murder was an act of love—as Althusser argued too.{{sfn|Roudinesco|2008|pp=109–110}}{{Failed verification|date=March 2023}} Rytmann had bouts of melancholy and self-medicated because of this.{{sfn|Roudinesco|2008|p=114, 171}} Guitton said, "I sincerely think that he killed his wife out of love of her. It was a crime of mystical love".{{sfn|Roudinesco|2008|p=110}} Debray compared it to an [[altruistic suicide]]: "He suffocated her under a pillow to save her from the anguish that was suffocating him. A beautiful proof of love ... that one can save one's skin while sacrificing oneself for the other, only to take upon oneself all the pain of living".{{sfn|Roudinesco|2008|p=110}} In his autobiography, written to be the public explanation he could not provide in court,{{sfnm|1a1=Elliott|1y=2006|1p=325|2a1=Lewis|2y=2014}} Althusser stated that "she matter-of-factly asked me to kill her myself, and this word, unthinkable and intolerable in its horror, caused my whole body to tremble for a long time. It still makes me tremble{{nbsp}}... We were living shut up in the cloister of our hell, both of us."{{sfn|Roudinesco|2008|p=114}}

{{rquote|left|I killed a woman who was everything to me during a crisis of mental confusion, she who loved me to the point of wanting only to die because she could not continue living. And no doubt in my confusion and unconsciousness I 'did her this service,' which she did not try to prevent, but from which she died.|Althusser, ''L'avenir dure longtemps''{{sfn|Roudinesco|2008|p=109}}}}

That, of course, is what he said, but Rytmann's point of view is unknowable.{{Editorializing|date=October 2024}}<!-- According to the [https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Althusser] French wikipedia page about Althusser --> Quebecois author Suzanne Léveillée has written that Rytmann wanted to leave him. Another Quebecois author, Francis Dupuis-Déri, also confirms that idea in an article about how the media dealt handled the murder,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dupuis-Déri |first1=Francis |title=An ordinary man: Louis Althusser killed his wife, Hélène Rytmann-Legotien, who wanted to leave him |journal=Nouvelles Questions Féministes |date=17 June 2015 |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=84–101 |doi=10.3917/nqf.341.0084 |url=https://shs.cairn.info/journal-nouvelles-questions-feministes-2015-1-page-84?lang=en |issn=0248-4951}}</ref> and later in a book titled ''Althusser Assassin''.<ref>{{cite web |title="Althusser assassin" : redonner vie à Hélène Rytmann {{!}} Philosophie magazine |url=https://www.philomag.com/articles/althusser-assassin-redonner-vie-helene-rytmann |website=Philosophie magazine |publisher=Philo Éditions |access-date=14 October 2024 |language=fr |date=15 November 2023}}</ref>

The crime seriously tarnished Althusser's reputation.{{sfn|Schrift|2006|pp=87–88}} As Roudinesco wrote, from 1980, he lived his life as a "specter, a dead man walking".{{sfn|Roudinesco|2008|p=108}} Althusser was forced to live in various public and private clinics until 1983, when he became a voluntary patient.{{sfn|Stolze|2013|p=8}} He was able to start an untitled manuscript during this time, in 1982; it was later published as "The Underground Current of the Materialism of the Encounter" ("Le courant souterrain du matérialisme de la rencontre").{{sfn|Elliott|2006|p=401}} From 1984 to 1986, he stayed at an apartment in the north of Paris,{{sfn|Stolze|2013|p=8}} where he remained confined most of his time, but he also received visits from some friends, such as philosopher and theologian [[Stanislas Breton]], who had also been a prisoner in the German [[stalag]]s;{{sfn|Balibar|2005b|p=274}} from Guitton, who converted him into a "mystic monk" in Roudinesco's words;{{sfn|Roudinesco|2008|p=110}} and from Mexican philosopher Fernanda Navarro during six months, starting from the winter of 1984.{{sfn|Althusser|1988|p=11–13}} Althusser and Navarro exchanged letters until February 1987, and he also wrote a preface in July 1986 for the resulting book, ''Filosofía y marxismo'',{{sfn|Althusser|1988|p=11–13}} a collection of her interviews with Althusser that was released in Mexico in 1988.{{sfn|Balibar|2005b|p=274}} These interviews and correspondence were collected and published in France in 1994 as ''Sur la philosophie''.{{sfn|Elliott|2006|p=318}} In this period he formulated his "materialism of the encounter" or "aleatory materialism", talking to Breton and Navarro about it,{{sfnm|1a1=Balibar|1y=2005b|1p=274|2a1=Elliott|2y=2006|2p=318}} that first appeared in ''Écrits philosophiques et politiques I'' (1994) and later in the 2006 [[Verso Books|Verso]] book ''Philosophy of the Encounter''.{{sfnm|1a1=Elliott|1y=2006|1p=318|2a1=Lewis|2y=2014}} In 1987, after Althusser underwent an emergency operation because of the obstruction of the [[esophagus]], he developed a new clinical case of depression. First brought to the Soisy-sur-Seine clinic, he was transferred to the psychiatric institution MGEN in [[La Verrière]]. There, following a pneumonia contracted during the summer, he died of a [[heart attack]] on 22 October 1990.{{sfn|Balibar|2005b|p=274}}