The "reduction/infinite regress" thread has concerned the question of whether "value," understood as the "essence of [capitalist] commodities" can legitimately be "reduced" to labor alone. I confess that to me the whole discussion has a metaphysical, "how-many-angels-can-dance-on-the-head-of-a-pin" ring to it that would be dispelled if someone could offer a concise statement of the ontological or explanatory significance of the concept "value" that is a) concrete, i.e that provides a complete and unambiguous test for distinguishing valid and invalid grounds for defining commodity value, and b) non-tautological, i.e. that is not just a corollary of defining a commodity's "value" in terms of labor time. Gil
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