[OPE-L:707]

chaion lee (conlee@chonnam.chonnam.ac.kr)
Sun, 10 Dec 1995 20:48:19 -0800

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Fred wrote in [ope-l: 699];

1. Marx's analysis of the commodity is based on two methodological
presuppositions:
a. Capitalism should be analyzed in terms of its objective
characteristics.
b. The commodity is analyzed as a GENERAL EQUIVALENT to
all other commodities.

My remark:
(a) is a redundant presupposition.
(b) follows from the very definition of the commodity. The
distinction between direct labor and commodity exchange indicates
that a commodity exchange signals the value-form of GENERAL
EQUIVALENT (see footnote 5 in chapter 2 of Capital,
vol 1).
So, the two presuppositions are unnecessary.

Cheers,

Chai-on Lee

ps: I made a mistake in the previous post [695] in wrting as follows
"LVT may apply best to the capitalism. But it can and should apply to
any sort of commodity production. The LVT is a closed, self-contained,
ossified world of capitalism. But it rather gives us the future and the
past of the capitalism." I should have inserted "Otherwise" in front of
the phrase, "The LVT is a clsoed, self-contained, ossified...". I would
like to rewrite, "Otherwise, the LVT would become a closed, .. world of
capitalism since it could not explain the transition from a precapitalist
world to the capitalism, and the transition from the capitalism to another
mode of production."