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Philosophy in the modern world a new history of western philosophy, volume 4 (new history of western philosophy) ( PDFDrive ) (1) 300

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POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY than a brick does Marx states his theory thus: ‘The value of one commodity is to the value of another commodity as the quantity of labour fixed in the one is to the quantity of labour fixed in the other’ (VPP 31) Two qualifications must be made to this simple equation A lazy or unskilful worker will take longer to produce a commodity than an energetic and skilful one: does this mean that his product is worth more? Of course not: when we speak of the quantity of labour fixed in a commodity we mean the time that is necessary for a worker of average energy and skill to produce it Moreover, we must add into the equation the labour previously worked up into the raw material of the commodity, and into the technology employed For example, the value of a certain amount of cotton yarn is the crystallisation of the quantity of labour added to the cotton during the spinning process, the quantity of labour previously realised in the cotton itself, the quantity of labour realised in the coal, oil, and other auxiliary matter used, the quantity of labour fixed in the steam engine, the spindles, the factory building and so forth (VPP 32) Naturally, only a proportion of the value of the spindle will be incorporated into the value of a particular quantity of yarn: the exact proportion will depend on the average working life of a spindle The value of a product at any given time will depend upon the productivity prevailing at that time If an increase in population means that less fertile soils must be cultivated, the value of agricultural products will rise because greater labour is needed to produce them On the other hand, when the introduction of the power-loom made it twice as easy to produce a given quantity of yarn, the value of yarn sank accordingly When value is expressed in monetary terms, it is called price Since labour itself has a price, it too must have a value But how is this to be defined? To answer this question we must note that what the labourer sells to his employer is not his actual labour, but his labouring power If he is paid £10 for a sixty-hour week, he is selling for £10 his labouring power for sixty hours But how are we to reckon the value of labouring power itself ? Like that of every other commodity, its value is determined by the quantity of labour necessary to produce it The labouring power of a man exists only in his living individuality A certain mass of necessaries must be consumed by a man to grow up and maintain his life But the man, like the machine, will wear out, and must be replaced by another man Beside the mass of necessaries required for his 283

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