| This question <49|40> overall <38|40> Perro: <4|93>. |
| Question 107: In the Simple or Accidental form of value, which commodity plays an active role, and which a passive role? Explain what it means in this situation to be active or passive. |
| [39] Perro: active/passive In the Simple or Accidental form of value, the relative form (the first commodity) represents the active role, and the equivalent form (the second commodity) represents the passive role. Therefore in the example 20 yards of linen = 1 coat, the linene would represent the active role, and the coat would represent the passive role. |
| We can see this from the linen producer's standpoint. The linen takes in this example the active part, only because the producer of it (the linen) knows how much labor were put into it. Labor was needed in order to produce the linen, and it is necessary for the producer of it to see that his labor was not wasted. Therefore the linen producer desires to exchange the linen in order to make the labor valuable. He values the labor of linen in the exchange relationship. |
| The coat takes the passive part, because the producer of the linen does not know how much labor is represented in it (the coat). Moreover, this is not interesting to the linene producer, only the use value of the coat is of interest in the exchange relationship. The linene producer knows how much use value that is necessary to exchange the linen. In other words, one can say that the value of linen is expressed in the use value of the coat. |
| Hans: The fact that the linen weaver knows how much labor is in the coat is irrelevant for the question at hand. What is relevant is not that the linen weaver know how much labor is in the linen, but that she has spent all her time producing a very specialized product, and she needs the products of the others to live. |
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