"Plural Temporality "traces out a dynamic historical relationship between the texts of Spinoza and Althusser. It attempts to understand Spinoza s thought through Althusser s insights, and in the process to better interrogate Althusser s own philosophy. From the fragmentary intuitions Althusser produced about Spinoza throughout his life, Morfino builds a new and comprehensive interpretation of Spinoza s philosophy. In the later sections of the book, this interpretation is put to work to help to clarify some of the more problematic aspects of the late Althusser s philosophy, thereby offering new concepts for a materialist position in philosophy and the development of Marxist theory"