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[40] Gza: The use-value of a wife. I understand that Marx suggests that “coats cannot be
exchanged for coats” in that “one use-value cannot be
exchanged for another of the same kind”. However, in
response to Thugtorious's [37] I'd like to say
that wives are not like coats in that each wife may have
different abilities and different “value”. One may be able
to do things and perform duties that the other cannot. If
we assume that the individual's skill is taken into account
and thought of as “use-value” than each wife would have a
different “exchange-value”, unlike the “coat for a coat”
exchange. I think this ties back into Marx's definition of
“properties”. As suggested, “properties do not determine
the thing” but “its properties have to be elicited in the
relation of the thing” (Ehrbar 12). Each wife not only may
have different “physical” properties but also may manifest
different properties in the way of her usefulness in
relation to the husband. One husband may value certain
properties in the other husband's wife and “gain” from the
exchange. The other husband may see a diverse property or
use-value in the other wife that is not intrinsic in his.
We can also apply use-value as the absence of certain
diverse characteristics in the two wives. |
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