From: gerald_a_levy (gerald_a_levy@msn.com)
Date: Wed Dec 18 2002 - 10:05:53 EST
Michael E, in [8199], wrote: > Usefulness is not a thing at all. Usefulness is only the mode of being of > something. A toothbrush, for instance, is a thing which has the potential > for being used to clean one's teeth. This potential (which is what > Aristotle calls _dynamis_) is put to work (_energeia_ = in-work-ness) > when someone uses the toothbrush to clean their teeth. Such a potential > is what it is only in relation to human understanding which understands > the toothbrush in its potential for cleaning one's teeth. Only within the > human practice of toothbrushing is the toothbrush a thing with the > potential for cleaning teeth. Humans understand such a potential and > actively use the toothbrush, whereas the toothbrush itself has the > passive potential to be used in such a way. There is a unity here of > thing and how it is understood. Hmmm. Let's consider another product: a ship. When can we say about the 'ship' when its construction and fitting-out has been completed? I.e. what is the status of the 'ship' *following production* but prior to its 'utilization' as a ship, i.e. prior to launching. Is it even a 'ship' at all? It certainly _looks like_ a ship and it has the potential [_dynamis_] to become a ship, but _is it_ a 'ship' at that moment in time? I would say: No! A ship or a toothbrush only becomes a ship or toothbrush when its potential is put to work [_energeia_], i.e. when it is actually used as a ship or a toothbrush. Taking this distinction a step further: consider the generic term 'commodity'. After production, there is _potential_ for the 'commodity' to have use-value and exchange-value and value. What was presumed to be a 'commodity' following sale only fully becomes a COMMODITY when this potential is realized, i.e. actualized. This social metamorphosis from 'commodity' to COMMODITY is only realized following sale since prior to sale use-value, exchange-value and value were only potential [_dynamis_]. This suggests also that the 'surplus value' that is believed to exist following production is _only_ potential _until_ the 'commodity' product is sold and thereby the fully-developed form of COMMODITY is actualized. 'surplus value' hence only becomes reconstituted as SURPLUS VALUE once there has been an exchange between COMMODITY and MONEY. After sale, the potential of the 'ship' or 'toothbrush' TO REPRESENT COMMODITY is realized. That is: whether the 'ship' or 'toothbrush' is ultimately _used as a ship or toothbrush_ does not determine whether they are COMMODITIES. The potential for commodity and surplus-value can thereby be actualized even if the commodity is never utilized or utilized in a particular way that it was intended for. Thus, a 'toothbrush' could be sold as a commodity and hence have a use-value even though it might never brush teeth but might instead be used in a piece of art or hoarded. In that case it might never become a TOOTHBRUSH even though it has already been fully constituted as COMMODITY. Do you agree? In solidarity, Jerry
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