The Value of Labor Power

Paper Summary:

In this paper the author examines some of the works of Karl Marx, focussing on the theme of value of labor-power, which is a key point in Marx's socio-economic theory, and determines the value of commodities. The paper looks at the importance of the wage system and discusses Marx's point that value comes from social labor and profit comes from extracting unpaid labor from the laborer. The author continues to discuss the works of Karl Marx and some of the statements he has made in reference to labor-power. He also tries to put across the capitalist point of view, by giving a counter argument for each of Marx's points. In conclusion the author states that we must either accept that Marx failed in his attempt at a truly materialist explanation of history and society, or admit that machines and animals exist as social laborers, the same as humans.

From the Paper:

"Marx's argument is persuasive, and the syllogism is formally valid when we include the suppressed premise: each premise makes a clean step to the next. However, premise two lacks much-needed justification for the syllogism to be true within Marx's system of dialectical materialism. Premise 2 is a metaphysical proposition, not a physical-historical proposition. Nowhere does Marx explain why labor-power is only a capacity of a living worker. More specifically, Marx does not explain the difference between a power-loom and a human weaver. From the capitalist's view, both require upkeep (or some of the means of subsistence), both perform social labor, and both must be replaced when they wear out, or die. A possible reply Marx could give is that people are the root of the power-loom's productive force: that is, people produce the power-loom and maintain the power-loom. However, capitalists also maintain the laborer, by paying his wages. Within the system, the capitalist must care for the worker and power-loom in the same manner."

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