January 07, 2006: What's a "level of abstraction"?
The terms "abstract" and "concrete" are frequently misunderstood.
"Abstract" is properly a verb, meaning to remove something from its usual context. When you build a scientific theory, you sometimes make your analysis simpler by removing determinants, that is, by looking at determinants in isolation from each other. Good synonyms for abstract are "simple" or "isolated". What you mean when you say your analysis is abstract is that you're looking at a small number of determinants in isolation from the context in which they're normally found, typically grouped with larger numbers of determinants.
"Concrete" means "complex", in the sense that your analysis includes multiple determinants which interact.
"Level of abstraction" is the degree of simplification you're using at a particular point in your analysis. The higher the level of abstraction, the fewer the determinants under consideration, and the more isolated from their normal context.
"Abstract" does not mean "mental", and "concrete" does not mean "material". "Abstract" does not mean "theoretical", and "concrete" does not mean "real". The proper synonyms for abstract are "simple" or "isolated" meaning mono-determined; for concrete, "complex", meaning multiply-determined.
Marx may be the great philosopher of abstraction. The logic of Capital moves grandly from the abstract/simplified/isolated concepts of value in Volume One, becoming more and more concrete as determinants are added throughout Volumes Two and Three.
Althusser may be the great philosopher of complexity. With a very high degree of logical rigor, he shows that in order to be useful, complexes of determinants must be thought of as ordered in hierarchical relationships, where one dominates the others in specific ways. Althusser develops the analytical tools for grasping logics of complexity. Previous writers, including notably Leon Trotsky, had used a similar method. However, Trotsky's theorization of his method is descriptive, while Althusser's is rigorous.
This isn't so pie-in-the-sky as it may seem at first glance. The so-called "War on Terror" is a complex of independent and semi-independent regional, religious, class, national, gender and geopolitical struggles, some of which are "just" or "progressive", many of which are not. This knot must be disentangled before effective strategies of resistance are likely.
