Tosel and Gramsci’s Catharsis

Abstract

This article examines André Tosel’s interpretation of Antonio Gramsci, focusing on the concept of catharsis as a central category of the philosophy of praxis. Against post-structuralist and postmodern paradigms that reject dialectics and collective political subjects, Tosel reactivates Gramsci’s thought as a critical tool for understanding contemporary neoliberal societies. The notion of catharsis is interpreted as the dialectical process through which social groups move from an economic-corporate level to an ethical-political dimension, transforming necessity into freedom and particular interests into universal political will. Through this lens, the article highlights the renewed relevance of dialectical thinking and the unity of theory and praxis, emphasizing catharsis as a key mechanism in the formation of hegemony and collective subjectivity. Tosel’s reading thus offers both a reinterpretation of Gramsci within the French intellectual context and a theoretical framework for analysing current relations of power, class struggle, and processes of depoliticization.