This question <132|132> overall <131|133> Wight: <55|173-1>.

Exam Question 78: Give economic, not philosophical reasons why a commodity must appear as what it is (use your own words).

[132] Wight: Commodities must appear as what they are   Commodities must appear as what they are from an economic standpoint because sellers and buyers both participating in the market for the commodity must be able to easily understand and interpret what exactly the commodity is in order to have a need for the commodity as well as determine a market price. Price is determined both objectively, based on the actual value of the commodity i.e labor hours, cost of inputs, capital, etc, as well as subjectively, based on the price of other comparable or substitutable items. What is boils down to is buyers and sellers must be able to identify commodities on the market in order to determine utility for the item and price, therefore the commodity must appear clearly and simply as what is truely is. This seems a very basic and fundamental concept but is important is keep in mind as the basis for the exchange of commodities in the economy.

Hans: In the Annotations, just above Question 78, it says: “appear as” is used here in the meaning of “take the social form of.” Then the Annotations elaborate on what this means. It does not mean, as you seem to think, that the buyer must know what use value he is buying. You must look more closely at the context in which the Question is posed.

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