| This question <54|103> overall <80|82> Allison: <969|114>. |
| Question 13: Would it have been possible to start with a “common sense” definition of capitalism, such as, that capitalist production is production for profit? |
| [81] Allison: I think that it would have been plausible for Marx to have started with a “common sense” definition of capitalism, but it most likely would not have fit into his overall approach. It is difficult for me to estimate what his thinking was in starting at this point simply because I do not have the entire perspective in view. However my initial impression is that it is necessary for Marx to begin his explanation dealing with the basis of capitalism, the commodity. As stated in the annotations the commodity is just as important to an understanding of capitalism as is the study of a single undifferentiated cell is for understanding the human body. It seems that Marx is taking the concrete basis of capitalism and addressing it first in order to build theoretically or abstractly upon it later. |
| Hans: Excellent point! This is part of the answer to Question 15: If Marx wanted to start his book with first principles, why did he pick the analysis of the commodity and not the analysis of the labor process or the analysis of value? In Notes on Wagner's Textbook on Political Economy, MECW 24, p. 545, Marx calls the commodity the simplest “concrete economic thing.” (das einfachste oekonomische Konkretum). |
| [81] Allison: He is beginning with small specifics in order to create a larger, broader picture versus perhaps painting a broad picture first, by way of some “common sense” definition, and subsequently getting more specific. Fredrick Lewis Allen stated, “Few things are harder to observe clearly...than the ordinary, everyday aspect of things.” I think that Marx understood this well and chose to carefully examine the everyday concrete role of the commodity first rather than define on assumptions that we all understand commodities and their respective roles in the capitalist economy. |
| Hans: Very good answer! Can you supply a precise citation for the Allen quote? |
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