This question <141|141> overall <140|142> Rambis: <95|206-5>.  
  Question 88: In the Random House edition of Capital, this sentence reads: “In order to find out how the simple expression of the value of a commodity lies hidden in the value relation between two commodities, ....” I claim that this translation is blatantly incorrect and self-contradictory. Can you see why?   
  [141] Rambis: contradiction   This translation is blatantly incorrect and self-contradictory because it says that the “simple expression of the value of a commodity lies hidden in the value relation between two commodities.” This would imply that the simple expression of a value is an implicit inference while by definition a simple expression of a value is an explicit, equation-like statement (Ex: x commodity A = y commodity B, or x commodity A is worth y of commodity B). The value relation between two commodities is expressed by the exchange relations of the two commodities and by the division and interdependence of the different labor processes. It is incorrect obviously because it misdefines the terms of simple expression and value relationships, but it is also self-contradictory because the simple expression of value is not hidden but is explicitly understood and given at the outset when measuring the relationship between two commodities. The value relation is determined by comparing and examining the ways in which the commodities interact and are interdependent and the processes used to arrive at their formulation.   
  Hans: You seem to know what is going on, but you do not say it very clearly. Were you not quite sure?   
 
 
 
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