Article archive

The pl’oducl.ion of mOl’al ideology Andrew Collier Vly aim in this paner is to throw some light on the nature of moral i~eology hv examining its origin and function in terms of nsvchoanalytical theory, as well as of ‘1″rxi sm, ‘Iv assumntions at the outset are that anv moral irteologv serves a socially renressive function, […]

them, but they are arhitrary in the sense that there is no rationale behind them. [Radical Philosophy 5, p34J Klein, I think, must berated among the most perceptively biting of these cynics, these nasty people who try their damnedest to upset the cultural applecart. The Neo-Dadaists set out to shock the ‘cultured classes from their […]

4 5 HMSO, 1963, App.Two(A), Annek K. 6 Cited in Danie1s and Schouten, op. cit., pp16ff. The same conclusion has been drawn from the observation of constant pass rates in the British GCE (a-level) over the years despite a tremendous increase in numbers of candidates. Cp. John Pearce, School Examinations (Macmi11an, London, 1972, p103): ‘The […]

Ma..xism and mo..alily Tony Skillen You just about need a pass to piss. Tha t a.in’ t no joke. You raise your little hand i f you want to go wee-wee. Then wait maybe half an hour ’till they find a relief-man. And they write it down every time too – cause you’re supposed to […]

Libe..al democ..alic ideology. unde.. sl..aln Allende’s Chile and IThe Economlsl’ John Krige In political, philosophical and ideological struggle, the words are also weapons and explosives or tranquillizers and poisons. Louis Althusserl This paper 2 explores some of the ways in which the ideological discourse associated with liberal democratic theory masks our cognitive access to social […]

an astronomer predicts that a comet will appear over Britain in January 1974, the fact that he or she, as an expert, thinks that this is so, is a good reason that a layman can have for thinking that the comet will appear. As a layman, the reasons which the astronomer has for thinking this […]

l is the one that makes me capable of stopping doing philosophy when I want to. -The one that gives philosophy peace, so that it is no longer tormented by questions which bring itself in question. The clarity that we are aiming at is’indeed complete clarity. But this simply means the philosophical problems should completely […]

On Ihelheo.-y of ideology Ithe politics of A.lthussel’) Jacques Ranciere ‘Certainly it is an interesting event we are dealing with: the Dutrescence of the absolute spirit (Marx: German Ideology Part 1) ‘All the mysteries which lead theory into mysticism find their rational solution in human practice and in the understanding of that practice’. For a […]

flock; but can any claim their exertions have sufficed? Nor was it only with England and her white colonies that Berkeley was concerned. His benevolence spread to all people of the earth, and especially to the savage natives of America. At a time when these savages are showing such a want of civic or spiritual […]

Mo..al might be or are applied. To investigate the latter is to raise political or moral or religious, but not philosophical, problems or questions. 2 philosophy wilhoul ..o ..alily? Richard Norman I Of the traditional areas of philosophy, moral philosophy is one in which the inadequacy of recent work has been most obvious. The writings […]

3 The Object of Morality, p.17 4 Cf. Erich Framm: Man For Himself, ch.IV section 1. Despite its limitations, Fromm’s discussion, and the book as a whole, are a useful application of psychological ideas to philosophical ethics, and far more valuable than most recent moral philosophY,in the analytical tradition. S I have in mind such […]

Whomakas hislory? Allhassel”s anli-hamanis.. John Mepham Introduction I am very much aware that in what follows I solve no philosophical problems. I attempt some conceptual clarifications and I propose some interpretations of theses of Louis Althusser. I hope this will at least make it possible to pose some problems more clearly than they are posed […]

(New Left Books 1973). But also read Macciocchi’s own contributions to this important and exciting book. Althusser on intellectuals: ‘It is extremely difficult for specialists and other bourgeois and petty-bourgeois “intellectuals” (including students). For a mere education of their consciousness is not enough, nor a mere reading of Capital. They must also make a real […]

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••• mEDTAllllDESS AS A mORAL [OD[EPT ………………………. SEAnSAVERS (, The concept of mental illness has been the subject of heated controversy in recent years; and this debate has caught the attention of a wide public. The reason for this is not simply that the debate has sometimes been conducted in heated terms; but, more importantly, […]

TRUTH AnD PRA[TI[E Andrew [allier of scientific enquiry and experiment, this is common ground not only of all Marxist theories, but of intelligent bourgeois theories as well. Peter Binns’ paper ‘The Marxist Theory of Truth’ in Radical Philosophy 4 exemplifies what seems to have become a new orthodoxy among Marxists, as well as many bourgeois […]

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• SEARLE’S IDEA OF A UNIVERSITY ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Colwyn W’illiamson The following remarks are about the nature of universities and their supposed political neutrality, about relations between students and teachers, and about the notion of the ‘academic’. To gain a foothold in the problems arising from these topics, I will focus attention on a book written […]

THE mARHIST THEORY OF ART ************************ ****************************************** Rager Taylar Therefore, concepts have histories and that this is so has rich implications for conceptual enquiries, for with the demise of essences concepts become no more and no less than historical phenomena, so that their history is not incidental to what they are. Thus, conceptual investigation must […]

THE mARHI5T THEORY OF TRUTH Peter Binns One of the main problems facing marxist theory is that of its own status. On the one hand the theory of the formation of ideology seems to suggest that all beliefs are relative to the believer’s society; while on the other hand there is the assumption that marxism […]

••••••••••••••••••••••••• a Eritique 01 R.D.lAln6’S SO[IAL PHILOSOPHV part 1 • JOE WARRID&TOD ••••••••••••••••••••••• •• Introduction No-one is an expert on the question as to what madness is, nor on its significance. This is a baffling yet fundamental field not just in theory but in relation to our very lives. Men like R D Laing have […]

REAson AnD UIOlEn[E A fragment of the ideology of liberal intellectuals Ray Edgley The antithesis between reason and violence: some contemporary examples I want to consider a version of the ic!ea that violence is contrary to reason, or to put another way what may seem to be the same point, that reason and violence are […]

Sexism, Gapitalism ” the ramil, I~_ __ Bosalind Delmar (This paper was written for the Womens Liberation Conference, London, November 1972) The relation between sexism and capitalism is often expressed as an opposition: is it a sexist society or a capitalist society? Are we interested in feminism-or socialism? We see socialist women denouncing feminism as […]