| This question <31|45> overall <39|41> Yossarian: <330-13|44>. |
| Exam Question 66: What is abstract human labor? I want you to say what it is, not what its significance is in commodity-producing society! These are two different questions. |
| [40] Yossarian: Further thoughts on abstract labor Abstract labor is best understood in contrast to “concrete” or individual labor forms (that provided by the tailor, baker, butcher, etc). When labor is abstracted the labor contributions of these individuals are generalized into one homogeneous blob. This implies what Marx refers to as a “common element” and consequently the elimination of the unique qualities and nuances of the individual labor. |
| Bogey says in [31] |
| Human labor could be defined as the acquired skill and the ability of any individual to perform certain functions whereby transforming the “use value” of a resource into a commodity. Abstract human labor refers to the expendible part of the labor performed by a human. |
| Marx does not view abstract labor as a quality of concrete labor, as Bogey implies, rather labor is abstracted via a process by which individual laborer's contribution is melded with all other human labor in the society. |
| In other words, the abstract human labor categorized the physical aspects or elements of the human. The brain, muscles, hands, fingers, legs, nerves etc. are being expended with each performance of labor. |
| Once again I think the mistake here is in stating that labor is merely “expended.” Marx claims that labor is not only “used up” but, more importantly, transferred or embodied in the commodity. A good analogy is in what Catholics refer to as “transubstantiation.” Through this process the body and blood of Christ are transformed (they believe this quite literally) into the host and wine, respectively. Similarly, Marx states that the commodity is a congealed version of abstract labor (as the host and wine are tangible forms of the essence which is Christ). Abstract labor, therefore, is the result of the accumulation of all human labor within a capitalist society into a material form, the commodity. By this process individual labor is converted into a uniform standard exchange value by which all labor is judged. |
| Hans: I commend you for building on the contribution of someone else. And you are certainly right to emphasize the fact that abstract labor is something social. I will write my own comments about it to the class. |
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