| This question <19|19> overall <18|20> Jenny: <331|37>. |
| Exam Question 32: Explain in your own words what it means to say that use values are the “material carriers” of exchange value? |
| [19] Jenny: use-value as “material carrier” of exchange-value Properties of commodities lie dormant and only are asserted when placed in relation to other things. Use-value is inherent in the nature of commodities and remains the same no matter how the thing is produced. Use-value is a an indication of the ability of properties of a commodity to satisfy needs. It implies the various ways properties can be used. It is relative. Use-value is not a physical property, but a relationship between a commodity's properties and the satisfaction of needs. This is independent of the amount of labor required to produce the commodity having useful qualities. |
| Use-values are only realized when a commodity is consumed. People really desire use-value of a thing to satisfy their needs, but those needs can only be met when one is in possession of a commodity having the useful qualities which satisfy the needs. By possessing the physical thing the use-value asserts itself to satisfy. Therefore, the use-value is what is desired, and is represented in a physical object. |
| In order to obtain the physical thing holding the qualities useful to a person, an exchange must be made. The relationship between different commodities is their exchange-value, and is inherent to the commodity desired. The usefulness, or use-value, of a thing, as experienced by its physical presence, is realized when placed in relation to needs. Exchange-value is the relationship between various commodities, and is inherent to the thing because it is the socially given worth of a commodity on the market. Marx simplifies the commodity vs. use-value differentiation to equating the two terms because they really can't be separated. Thus, use-value is a commodity which demands an exchange value in the market. Use-value is the physical representation on the exchange-value, i.e. the “material carriers” of exchange-value. |
| Hans: Good command of the study materials. Only at the end a misunderstanding: Marx does not identify the use value with the commodity but only with the “body of the commodity”, i.e., the physical thing itself (disregarding the social relations which make the thing a commodity). |
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