[OPE-L:7148] [OPE-L:650] Re: Re: Linearity, basket decomposition, etc@

Gil Skillman (gskillman@mail.wesleyan.edu)
Thu, 11 Mar 1999 11:34:23 -0500

Andrew writes:

>
>Gil writes: "This begs the central question at hand by assuming
>what must be proved, that is, that there is a (not simply
>tautological) axiom system which can support Marx's argument that
>exchange establishes something "equal" in a sense adequate to
>support his conclusion that abstract social labor is in some sense
>the basis of exchange value."
>
>It seems to me that *this* begs the central issue at hand. In OPE-L
>584, I argued in some detail that Marx did NOT argue that "exchange
>establishes something 'equal'." So Gil is assuming what must be
>proved, namely that my interpretation of Marx's argument is false
>and his own interpretation is true.

I do not see that this is on point. I am criticizing Marx's use of the
terms "equal" and "equation" in the first two paragraphs of the Chapter 1
argument beginning atop p. 127 in the Penguin edition. Their presence is
not a function of any "interpretation" of mine, and correspondingly their
presence cannot be dismissed by any "interpretation" of Andrew's. Perhaps
there is some other argument, besides the one Marx actually gives, which
might support his conclusion, but that would need to be a separate
discussion.