Each of them, so far as it is exchange value, must therefore be reducible to this third.Ī simple geometrical illustration will make this clear. The two things must therefore be equal to a third, which in itself is neither the one nor the other. of iron, there exists in equal quantities something common to both. What does this equation tell us? It tells us that in two different things – in 1 quarter of corn and x cwt. The proportions in which they are exchangeable, whatever those proportions may be, can always be represented by an equation in which a given quantity of corn is equated to some quantity of iron: e.g., 1 quarter corn = x cwt. Let us take two commodities, e.g., corn and iron. Therefore, first: the valid exchange values of a given commodity express something equal secondly, exchange value, generally, is only the mode of expression, the phenomenal form, of something contained in it, yet distinguishable from it. But since x blacking, y silk, or z gold &c., each represents the exchange value of one quarter of wheat, x blacking, y silk, z gold, &c., must, as exchange values, be replaceable by each other, or equal to each other. Instead of one exchange value, the wheat has, therefore, a great many. – in short, for other commodities in the most different proportions. Let us consider the matter a little more closely.Ī given commodity, e.g., a quarter of wheat is exchanged for x blacking, y silk, or z gold, &c. Hence exchange value appears to be something accidental and purely relative, and consequently an intrinsic value, i.e., an exchange value that is inseparably connected with, inherent in commodities, seems a contradiction in terms. In the form of society we are about to consider, they are, in addition, the material depositories of exchange value.Įxchange value, at first sight, presents itself as a quantitative relation, as the proportion in which values in use of one sort are exchanged for those of another sort, a relation constantly changing with time and place. Use values become a reality only by use or consumption: they also constitute the substance of all wealth, whatever may be the social form of that wealth. The use values of commodities furnish the material for a special study, that of the commercial knowledge of commodities. When treating of use value, we always assume to be dealing with definite quantities, such as dozens of watches, yards of linen, or tons of iron.
This property of a commodity is independent of the amount of labour required to appropriate its useful qualities.
A commodity, such as iron, corn, or a diamond, is therefore, so far as it is a material thing, a use value, something useful. Being limited by the physical properties of the commodity, it has no existence apart from that commodity. The utility of a thing makes it a use value. The diversity of these measures has its origin partly in the diverse nature of the objects to be measured, partly in convention. So also is the establishment of socially-recognized standards of measure for the quantities of these useful objects. To discover the various uses of things is the work of history. It is an assemblage of many properties, and may therefore be of use in various ways. Neither are we here concerned to know how the object satisfies these wants, whether directly as means of subsistence, or indirectly as means of production.Įvery useful thing, as iron, paper, &c., may be looked at from the two points of view of quality and quantity. The nature of such wants, whether, for instance, they spring from the stomach or from fancy, makes no difference. Our investigation must therefore begin with the analysis of a commodity.Ī commodity is, in the first place, an object outside us, a thing that by its properties satisfies human wants of some sort or another. The wealth of those societies in which the capitalist mode of production prevails, presents itself as “an immense accumulation of commodities,” its unit being a single commodity. (THE SUBSTANCE OF VALUE AND THE MAGNITUDE OF VALUE) SECTION 1 THE TWO FACTORS OF A COMMODITY: Section 4 - The Fetishism of Commodities and the Secret thereof Transition from the General Form of Value to the Money-Form The Interdependent Development of the Relative Form of Value, and of the Equivalent Formģ. The Altered Character of the Form of ValueĢ. Defects of the Total or Expanded Form of Valueġ. The Elementary Form of Value Considered as a Wholeģ. Quantitative Determination of Relative ValueĤ. The Two Poles of the Expression of Value: Relative Form and Equivalent Formī. Section 3 - The Form of Value or Exchange-ValueĪ. Section 2 - The two-fold Character of the Labour Embodied in Commodities Section 1 - The Two Factors of a Commodity: Use-Value and Value
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