Critique must target foundational syntheses, not mass ideology

Evidence

But widespread, mass ideology must be distinguished from the scientific works and the great philosophical syntheses which are its real cornerstones. It is the latter which must be overcome, either negatively, by demonstrating that they are without foundation, or positively, by opposing to them philosophical syntheses of greater importance and significance. — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1543

Categorization

• XREF: Distinction maps onto Gramsci’s full doctrine of hegemony and common sense: mass ideology sits at the everyday level, while great syntheses anchor it from above — a hierarchy of intellectual production worth carrying into the Islamophobia toolkit. — connects to: Refuting an ideology requires attacking its best exponents, not its weakest — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1562