| This question <45|80> overall <55|57> Homer: <593|145>. |
| Exam Question 70: 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. |
| [56] Homer: abstract human labor To help explain what abstract human labor is, I will first define specific labor. Specific labor is what defines the physical qualities of commodities and gives them their use-value. For example, the labor of the mason determines the size and shape of the bricks he makes, and the labor of the violin maker determines the physical qualities of the instrument. |
| While bricks and violins are the products of specific labor, they are also the products of absrtact human labor (called absract because abstraction is made from its specific nature). The specific labor that was used to produce the two commodities was part of the total labor time available to society. This abstract labor is what provides the measurement of exchange-value. Abstract labor is what bricks and violins have in common so that they may be exchanged for each other. |
| An analogy: when one adds together four carrots, four peppers, and four turnips, one has to abstract from their specific characteristics to be left with twelve vegetables. |
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