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In the 1976 version of his autobiographical project, Les faits, Althusser wrote that “the problem of all philosophical (and political and military) problems... [was] how to get out of a circle while remaining in it.” This study focuses on three key moments in which Althusser used this image of the circle, which recurs frequently in his work. First, the circle of Hegelian dialectics. Second, the circle of ideology. Third, the circle of the social contract, which, according to Althusser, only Rousseau managed to break out of. Analyzing these three moments from the perspective of Derrida’s description of the strategy of deconstruction (remaining within the metaphysical circle in order to effect a conceptual shift or subversion of meaning), the article ultimately aims to open up an “Althusserian path” to deconstruction.