Zhuangzi and ideological state apparatuses

Philosophy and Social Criticism (forthcoming)
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Abstract

Louis Althusser is perhaps most well-known for his concept of ‘Ideological State Apparatuses’ (ISAs). However, Althusser is not clear about what role, if any, ISAs play in a post-capitalist society. At times, Althusser talks about ISAs (and the state) withering; at other times, they are merely reformed. Sometimes, ISAs are described as having an inescapable repressive dimension; on other occasions, they are a perfectly acceptable tool for the reproduction of socialism. In this paper, I offer a way of thinking through this confusion that draws on the thought of the Daoist philosopher, Zhuangzi. I argue that Zhuangzian friendship represents a kind of radical equality that is reproducible without the traditional kind of ideological interpellation of ISAs, thereby allowing Althusser explain post-capitalist ideological reproduction. It is worth noting that in this paper, I am not engaging in a textual exegesis of the Zhuangzi. My primary interest is in using the contemporary literature on the Zhuangzi to think through a problem in Althusser’s philosophical system.

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Michael Hemmingsen
Tunghai University

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References found in this work

Confucian Moral Self Cultivation.Richard Garner & Philip J. Ivanhoe - 1999 - Philosophy East and West 49 (4):533.
Ideology: An Introduction.Terry Eagleton - 1991 - Studies in East European Thought 45 (3):229-230.
Zhuangzi and the Heterogeneity of Value.Chris Fraser - 2015 - In Livia Kohn (ed.), New Visions of the Zhuangzi. Three Pines Press. pp. 40–58.

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