Skidmore College Creative Matter Philosophy Faculty Scholarship Philosophy Department 2005 Knowledge versus "Knowledge": Louis Althusser on the Autonomy of Science and Philosophy from Ideology William S. Lewis Skidmore College Follow this and additional works at: https://creativematter.skidmore.edu/phil_rel_fac_schol Recommended Citation Lewis, W. S. (2005). Knowledge versus "knowledge": Louis althusser on the autonomy of science and philosophy from ideology. Rethinking Marxism, 17(3), 455-470,487. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Philosophy Department at Creative Matter. It has been accepted for inclusion in Philosophy Faculty Scholarship by an authorized administrator of Creative Matter. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. RETHINKING MARXISM VOLUME 17 NUMBER 3 (JULY 2005) Knowledge versus ‘‘Knowledge’’: Louis Althusser on the Autonomy of Science and Philosophy from Ideology William S. Lewis As a Marxist philosopher, Louis Althusser consistently argues that scientific knowl- edge is objective and real and that practical knowledge of objective political and cultural realities is knowable as well. If it is the case that these claims are defensible, then Althusser may have not only developed an epistemology supportive of Marxist philosophy and practice, but also may have suggested a tenable philosophy of science, one that resists the Scylla of positivism and the Charybdis of extreme cultural and historical relativism. This article discusses the limitations of Althusser’s method for marking