Table Of ContentPolitics and Philosophy
Historical
Materialism
Book Series
EditorialBoard
Paul Blackledge, Leeds – Sébastien Budgen, Paris
Michael Krätke, Lancaster – Stathis Kouvelakis,
London – Marcel van der Linden, Amsterdam
China Miéville, London – Paul Reynolds, Lancashire
Peter Thomas, Amsterdam
VOLUME23
Politics and Philosophy
Niccolò Machiavelli and Louis Althusser’s
Aleatory Materialism
By
Mikko Lahtinen
Translatedby
Gareth Griffiths and Kristina Kölhi
LEIDEN•BOSTON
2009
Thisbookisprintedonacid-freepaper.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Lahtinen,Mikko.
Politicsandphilosophy:NiccoloMachiavelliandLouisAlthusser'saleatorymaterialism/by
MikkoLahtinen;translatedbyGarethGriffithsandKristinaKohli.
p.cm.–(Historicalmaterialismbookseries,1570-1522;23)
TranslatedfromtheFinnish.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-90-04-17650-8(hardback:alk.paper)1.Althusser,Louis,1918-1990–Politicaland
socialviews.2.Machiavelli,Niccolò,1469-1527.3.Materialism.I.Griffiths,Gareth.II.Kölhi,
Kristina.III.Title.IV.Series.
B2430.A474L342009
194–dc22
2009011373
ISSN 1570-1522
ISBN 9789004176508
Copyright2009byKoninklijkeBrillNV,Leiden,TheNetherlands.
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Contents
Foreword..................................................................... ix
Author’sPrefacetotheEnglishEdition .................................... xi
ChapterOne IntroductoryComments .................................... 1
1.1.Althusser,Machiavelliandpoliticaltheory ............................ 1
1.2.Althusser’scontributiontoMachiavellischolarship .................. 9
1.2.1.Thegeneralandtheparticular ................................... 9
1.2.2.Thepoliticalpraxisofaprince ................................... 10
1.2.3.Aleatorydynamics................................................ 11
1.2.4.‘Veritàeffettualedellacosa’–‘Theeffectivetruth’ .............. 13
1.2.5.Moralsandpolitics................................................ 14
1.2.6.Materialistpoliticaltheory........................................ 15
1.3.Theapproachofthepresentstudy ..................................... 16
ChapterTwo ACritiqueofHegelianism.................................. 19
2.1.AcritiqueofHegeliandialectics........................................ 20
2.2.Althusser’sMarxism.................................................... 30
2.2.1.Overdeterminationandunderdetermination.................... 33
The‘morphology’oftheover-andunderdeterminationof
contradictions................................................... 36
Therealityofcontradictions ...................................... 41
Displacementsandcondensationsinideologicalapparatuses–
ideologicalapparatusesasthedisplacementsand
condensationsofcontradictions ............................... 43
Themetaphoricnatureofthetopographic ....................... 49
Russia1917......................................................... 55
2.2.2.Summary:complexityandchaos................................. 59
vi • Contents
2.2.3.Engelsandindividualwill........................................ 63
Theindividualwill ................................................ 66
2.3.Althusser’sself-criticism................................................ 72
2.3.1.Elliott’stheoreticistinterpretationofAlthusser.................. 81
2.4.The‘Machiavellian’Lenin .............................................. 83
2.4.1.Towardsatheoreticisationofpractice............................ 87
ChapterThree AleatoryMaterialism...................................... 89
3.1.Prologue:Machiavelli’ssolitude........................................ 89
3.2.Theundergroundcurrentofthematerialismoftheencounter........ 95
3.2.1.Law................................................................ 100
3.2.2.Surprises........................................................... 104
ChapterFour Althusser’sAleatoryMachiavelli.......................... 109
4.1.Apreliminaryschema:thetwodimensionsofMachiavelli’s
differentiaespecificae...................................................... 109
4.1.1.‘Theoretical’differentiaspecifica ................................... 110
4.1.2.‘Political’differentiaspecifica....................................... 111
4.2.Machiavelli’sdifferentiaspecificainthehistoryofpoliticalthought ... 113
4.2.1.Machiavelli–Montesquieu–Aristotle........................... 115
4.3.ThepraxisofThePrince:thetextasapoliticalact ..................... 125
4.3.1.Machiavelli’sutopianism......................................... 136
4.4.Thepraxisoftheprince:thealeatorytruth ............................ 139
4.4.1.Thealeatoryofthe‘subjective’and‘objective’................... 144
Themanofactionandhiscase.................................... 157
4.4.2.Beyondthealeatoryofthe‘subjective’and‘objective’ .......... 162
4.5.Thepraxisoftheprince:theprojectandstrategyofthenewprince.. 171
4.5.1.MachiavelliandPolybius......................................... 172
4.5.2.Theconditionsforthepoliticalprojectandstrategyofthenew
prince.............................................................. 178
4.5.3.Thelawlesshero .................................................. 183
4.5.4.Apopularideologicalfigure...................................... 187
Theinstinctofthefox.............................................. 187
Displacementsandcondensations................................ 197
4.5.5.Thedialecticoftheinterestsoftheprinceandthepeople....... 200
4.5.6.Thestateandthelaw ............................................. 205
Contents • vii
4.6.Epilogue:Althusser’sinterpretationofMachiavelli................... 212
ChapterFive TheSubversiveMachiavelli ................................ 215
5.1.Theartofwarandtheartofpolitics ................................... 215
5.2.Thedestructivecurrentoffortuna ...................................... 223
5.2.1.Theactor’sprudence.............................................. 240
5.3.Theaspectsoffortuna ................................................... 242
5.3.1.KronosandKairos.................................................. 252
5.4.LadyFortunaandtheyoungmen ...................................... 253
5.5.TheriseandfallofCesareBorgia....................................... 256
5.5.1.Cesare’smisfortune............................................... 262
5.6.‘Astablepeople’......................................................... 265
5.6.1.‘Apeople’anda‘nation’inthecontextandterminologyofthe
earlycinquecento................................................... 274
5.6.2.MachiavelliintheFlorentinecontext ............................ 281
Classpositionandambitions...................................... 285
5.6.3.‘Utopian’texts..................................................... 290
NazioneandMachiavelli........................................... 297
5.7.Epilogue:Machiavelliandthetamingofchance....................... 302
ChapterSix Conclusion.................................................... 307
References.................................................................... 313
Index ......................................................................... 323
Foreword
In the mid-1990s, at the time I was completing the
originalFinnishversionofthisbook,nowpublished
here in English, we were living in the aftermath of
thecrisisinMarxismandthecollapseof‘realsocial-
ism’. This situation also created a less favourable
academic-intellectualatmosphereforwritingabook
onacommunistphilosophersuchasLouisAlthus-
ser. In a situation where the initiative of the Left
was at a low ebb, it felt very reassuring to read –
apartfromGramsci’sPrisonNotebooks–Althusser’s
then recently posthumously published analyses of
Machiavelli and ‘aleatory materialism’. It was
illuminating to delve into his later views – views
that can be traced to his earlier writings – on the
theoreticalproblematicsofthepoliticalintervention
reflected in his analyses. I found an Althusser for
whomitwasessential–nomore,noless–toreflect
onthequestionof‘whatistobedone’intheconjunc-
ture, or to reflect on how the ‘conjunctural’ under-
standingofhistoryandrealitycouldofferatheoret-
icalstartingpointforasubversivepoliticalstrategy.
In the presentbook, itis indeedessential to read
Althusser above all as someone who advanced a
theory ofmaterialistpolitics,andwhoselaterwrit-
ings open up potential – albeit incomplete – views
fortheadvancementofMarxistpoliticaltheory.As
Description:Often portrayed as an aloof philosopher, Louis Althusser's work on Niccolo Machiavelli reveals Althusser's deep commitment to political practice. Seeking to challenge the prevailing views on Althusser, Mikko Lahtinen argues that the French thinker cannot be understood from a purely philosophical per
