| This question <59|59> overall <58|60> Bird: <515|104>. graded A |
| Question 134: Why does Marx write “society expresses the sum of relations in which the individuals stand” instead of “society consists of the sum of relations in which the individuals stand”? |
| [59] Bird: expresses vs. consists. The statement by Marx, “society expresses the sum of relations in which the individual stands” conveys a principle consistent with his discussion of commodity exchange-value and abstract human labor. First, I will explain my understanding of this question and then generalize to other Marxian principles present in the current discussion. Society “consists of the sum of relations” implies that adding together all individual relations results in an equivalent value referred to as “society.” To say it in another way: society equals the sum of its relational parts. This view of society is limiting in the sense that once the relations have been added together there can be no more -- it is complete. |
| When Marx says, “society expresses the sum of relations” he moves beyond mere addition. For society to “express” the sum of relations implies that society gives voice to something beyond the sum of the relations; that society as a whole is greater than the sum of its part. Society is not just a collection of multiple one-to-one relationships but expresses the collective “we” which overlies all individual relations. |
| A concrete example of this concept is found in team sports. Those who have been successful as teams are somehow able to bring out the best in every individual and through the interaction of the group produce successful results beyond what any one could have done individually. When functioning as a team, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. While not wanting to insult any LA Laker fans, I believe this principle was played out in this year's NBA finals. The sum of the statistics for the individual Laker players was greater than the sum of the statistics for the individual Piston players. If the team “consisted” of the sum of the parts, than LA should have won the series. But the Pistons were able to put “expression” to the relations and created the teamwork necessary to have an outcome greater than the sum of the individual players' talents. |
| “Teamwork” is a concept, it has no physical properties, yet its presence can influence outcomes. Geforms [53] discusses similar concepts in question 133. A commodity's value material or exchange-value have no physical properties but clearly impact the economic system and are tied to the abstract human labor endued in a product. The interrelatedness of these physical and non-physical features can be studied and reflected upon both as parts of a whole and as a whole greater than the sum of its parts. The analogy of the building (pg. 77 of the annotations) is an example of this process where viewing individual rooms as well as the architecture of the overall structure provide different vantage points of the same reality. This takes us full circle to Marx's statement regarding society, “Society does not consist of individuals, but expresses the sum of connections, relations, in which these individuals stand with respect to each other.” (195:80) |
| Hans: What is “endued”? You illustrate very well the importance of relations versus an individualistic view. But I doubt that this explains Marx's use of the word “express.” |
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