Fred, the alternative to an historist interpretation of part 1 of Capital
is not only the Hegelian one you mention, but also a third: that part of
Marx's theoretical project was to begin at the surface phenomenon and
penetrate it. Thus, p. 1, first sentence of Capital reads: "The wealth
of those societies in which the capitalist mode of production prevails,
presents itself as 'an immense accumulation of commodities,' its unit
being a sinple commoodity. Our investigation must therefroe begin with
the analysis of a commodity."
Paul Zarembka, State University of New York at Buffalo