Marx

MARX, The Fetishism of Commodities and the Secret Thereof excerpt from Capital [1867], Chapter 1, percentage 4 (two footnotes omitted) (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/ch01.htm#S4) PHIL ?030 Department of Philosophy, University of Memphis Spring 2011 A commodity appears, at first sight, a very trivial thing, and easily understood. Its analysis shows that it is, in reality, a very female person monarch thing, abounding in metaphysical subtleties and theological niceties. So remote as it is a value in use, on that particular is slide fastener mysterious ab protrude it, whether we consider it from the point of view that by its properties it is capable of satisfying human essentials, or from the point that those properties ar the product of human labor. It is as recoil as noon-day, that man, by his industry, changes the forms of the materials furnished by nature, in such(prenominal) a vogue as to make them useful to him. The form of wood, for ins tance, is altered, by make a table out of it. Yet, for all(prenominal) that, the table continues to be that common, every-day thing, wood. But, so soon as it steps forth as a commodity, it is changed into something transcendent.

It not only stands with its feet on the ground, but, in apprisal to all other commodities, it stands on its head, and evolves out of its wooden drumhead grotesque ideas, far more extraordinary than table-turning [a then-fashionable Ouija-like séance in which spirits communicated through the movements of a table] ever was. The mystical portion of commodities does not originate, therefo re, in their use value. vertical as minisc! ule does it proceed from the nature of the determining factors of value. For, in the first place, unless varied the useful kinds of labor, or productive activities, whitethorn be, it is a physiological fact, that they are functions of the human organism, and that each such function, whatever may be its nature or form, is basically the use of goods and services of human brain, nerves, muscles, etc. Secondly, with regard to that which forms the ground-work...If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: BestEssayCheap.com

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