Gerald_A_Levy wrote: > There has been much discussion on OPE-L aboutwhether Marx's theory of > value is internallyconsistent and logical. I don't want to re-hash > thosearguments here. Rather I want to ask the following: * _even if_ > Marx's theory of value (and/or variations thereof) are shown to be > logically coherent and consistent, what does that tell us? In other > words: so what? I believe it can be easily demonstrated that thereare > potentially: a) an infinite quantity of social theories which > arelogically implausible and inconsistent; AND b) an infinite quantity > of logically plausible socialtheories. I will call b) the "infinite > quantity of logically plausiblesocial theories theorem" (IQLPSTT). Any > reader of *science fiction* knows the validityof the IQLPSTT. Once we > accept the validity of the IQLPSTT, wemust recognize that if it can be > shown that atheory is logically plausible and consistent,the merit of > any one of this set of theories cannot be judged based on this alone. > Indeed, itonly establishes a trivial result. About this point: 1. The Marxian concept of truth is not logical coherence but practice. Roger Garudy and many others have discussed this point. 2. IQLPSTT is in some way illustrated by Geometry: there are many logical coherent geometry's. Hence, even in Math, logical coherence is not enough to construct useful theories. This point and other supporting I (maybe M for many could be more reasonable) QLPSTT could be find in: Kline Morris(1980). The Loss of Certainty. New York: Oxford University Press. saludos cordiales Alejandro Valle Baeza
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