This question <96|75> overall <105|107> Prince: <330-20|202>.  
  Question 95: What does Marx mean by the remark in the footnote to R144:1, that humans are not born with a mirror in their hands?   
  [106] Prince: Humans are not born with a mirror in their hands   Marx is referring to the value-form commodity of humans. From footnote eighteen, when humans are born, they do not know how to act as humans (male or female), because they don't have a reflection basis for acting. Humans are completely natural when they are born. Meaning a new baby will not know how to behave until they see and observe a reflection. For example, usually parents are a reflection basis for a new-born baby. When the baby observes the parents' actions, usually then the baby will mirror the behavior of his parents. The parents are now of value-form to the baby. The baby only relates to himself as a human through his relation to another human (parents) instead of a nonhuman, such as a dog or cat. The baby has no part in creating his parents, because the parents existed before him to mirror them. The baby created (developed) himself into a human baby through interactions with other humans (parents). Many people overlook that fact that they are developed and created through mirroring someone else either within or out of their environment.   
  Hans: You wrote:   
  The parents are now of value-form to the baby.   
  In my view, the baby does not emulate the parents because it values them, but because it recognizes itself in them.   
  The baby only relates to himself as a human through his relation to another human(parents) instead of a nonhuman, such as a dog or cat.   
  You seem to be saying here that the baby is a blank piece of paper which could also develop into a dog or cat. The baby has its own human nature, but the form in which it expresses it is given by its interaction with the parents.   
 
 
 
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