| This question <295|244> overall <218|220> Nate: <1315|515>. graded A– |
| Question 275: What is the law of value? What does all this talk about “escaping” or “outwitting” the law of value mean? |
| [219] Nate: The law of value is, as Marx describes, the way “the labor-time socially necessary to produce them asserts itself violently as a regulative law of nature.” The “them” referring to the commodity in question. Even though people try to take advantage of the value proportions to somehow get an advantage, the true value forces its way into the market. |
| Escaping or outwitting the law of value is referring to the use of science to try to understand how things work, in an attempt to better themselves or their situation. |
| Hans: Your first paragraph is very good. Your second paragraph should have been a little more critical of the instrumentalist view which tries to take advantage of the social properties of things. After all, we are presently talking about commodity fetishism. |
| Marx's goal was not individual betterment in the system, but he thought any science which comes to a true understanding of the capitalist system would lead to action changing the system. Modern scientists are not expected to act in accordance with their science; rather, the system tries to shut them down by offering them cushy jobs. |
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