Trapnest, 3/22

Something that stuck with me after this week’s class was the quote:

“Ideology represents the imaginary relationship of individuals to their real conditions of existence.” – Althusser

One of the reasons this stuck with me so closely is it reminds me of Rene Descartes in many ways. Descartes’ philosophical theory was based on the fact that the world as we know it, that which we interact with is something that we cannot “trust.” Trust meaning we cannot put stock into it because we use our senses to assess it. It is this interaction which can lead us astray. Therefore it is our thought processes that allow us to understand and know of our own existence. The famous phrase, “I think therefore I am” applies here.

The reason why I connected these two together is that in Althusser’s quote I also see a separation between the physical world and the world in which we exist in within our minds. Our senses may tell us that the car we have is fast, it has leather seats by our touch receptors, and it’s new by its “new car smell.” But all of these are just random facts and assessments on the situation. It is the ideologies and thoughts that tell us what this situation means. That the car being fast is a goo thing, the leather interior is a sign of wealth, and the fact that it’s new is also a desirable trait.

I feel that, as Descartes would argue it is the mental perspective that is more important. It is our ideologies, our collective thoughts, that tell us gold and diamonds are desirable. All the same those ideologies could tell us that clay and stones are desirable. The physical object is irrelevant and unimportant in the face of the ideological state of mind.