The French philosopher Louis Althusser has done a great contribution of exploring the materialist conception of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. He managed to overcome many conflicts through more complete and in-depth analysis of the concept. In this article we have considered the theory of determination and overdetermination, which has become the solution of many allegations of excessive materialism of Marx's theory. We have turned to the Althusser’s book “For Marx” his article “Contradiction and determination” in which he explores the complex relationship of base and superstructure under the materialist conception of history. We examined one of the most important concept that will help us to understand the complex structure determination and overdetermination, which is a contradiction. We highlighted the basic contradiction between productive forces and production relations, and we denoted the variable dominants influencing the development of society. Thus, the Louis Althusser’s theory of overdetermination becomes a creative solution to the issue of excessive simplification of Marx's theory, enables a completely different way to regard Marxist heritage and represents a new way of possible development of the materialist conception of the society formation.
