The Fourfold Implications of Althusser's Ideological Concept and Its Contemporary Value
The concept of ideology is a core concept of Althusser's ideological theory,which runs through the whole process of his ideological development.Althusser's concept of ideology is formed on the basis of critically inheriting Marx's critical theory of ideology and standing on the standpoint of structuralism,combining the unconscious view and the mirror structure theory.Althusser explained the concept of ideology mainly from four dimensions.First,he explained ideology as a representation system from the epistemological dimension.Secondly,he analyzes ideology as a material entity from the dimension of ontology.Thirdly,he elaborates the ideology as the bourgeois state machine from the practical dimension.Finally,from the dimension of functionalism,he illustrates the ideology that can call the individual as the subject.The interpretation of these four dimensions not only embodies the rich implications of Althusser's ideological concept,but also exposes the empty field or conceal-ment of the ideological subject.