Psychology and Ideology: The Case of Althusser

Abstract

Psychology's silence is noted in some of the major debates in the philosophy of science at the moment. It is suggested that psychology's participation in issues of the philosophy of science could meaningfully contribute to a critical theoretical psychology. This article focuses on the question of ideology. Two ways of addressing ideology in psychology are identified: a critical dimension and a substantive dimension. The article develops the substantive dimension which tries to account for the operations of ideology at the level of the individual. This is an important corrective as theories of ideology, derived mainly from social theory, have been weak in explaining the operations of ideology at the level of the individual. It is suggested that Althusser's work is able to contribute, if read in a psychological way, to an understanding of the operations of ideology in its more individual manifestations. After a brief presentation of Althusser's work, four central aspects of his theory of ideology are critically discussed. It is argued that a critical understanding of Althusser's theory of ideology opens up theoretical and empirical space for a psychological analysis of the constitution and development of human individuality.