| This question <63|65> overall <63|65> Hans: <58|68>. |
| Question 75: Why can commodities not express their values in their own use values? |
| [64] Hans: Careful: most Questions directly refer to the text! In message [62], Coffee argues: commodities cannot express their values in their own use values because different people will take advantage of different use values in different ways, and therefore they will not arrive at a uniform valuation. Besides, different use values cannot really be compared with each other, while value ought to be something by which one can compare different commodities. |
| Coffee confuses the “expression” of value with the “determination” of value. In the whole Section 3 of Chapter One (which is the current reading assignment), Marx takes it for granted that value is determined by labor content. He is discussing how the value thus determined must “express” itself. In message [57], I called the distinction between expression and determination to your attention. Please keep it in mind. |
| Furthermore, Coffee did not notice that Question 75 very specifically referred to the text. In 138:1, Marx says that commodities need a double form. By implication this means they cannot express their values in their natural form, which is their use values. In 139:7/o Marx says more explicitly: I cannot, for example, express the value of linen in linen. Question 75 asks the reader to recapitulate Marx's reasoning behind these assertions. We are trying to understand Marx's text in this class, and all Questions must be seen in direct relation to the reading assignments. |
| Ayn in message [63] started out with a much better understanding of the issues involved than Coffee, but she apparently was derailed by Coffee's confusion. Question 75 has not yet been answered correctly at this point. |
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