CB: In Althusser's terms, the mature Marx significantly
relocates humanism and essentialism, philosophical
anthropology to human labor in that it is a main
source of value; and there is a sense of human
essence in the abstract equality of all abstract
human labor. It's homogeneous and uniform. It exists in the
organism of every ordinary individual.
It's human labour pure and simple. , identically
abstract ( and abstractly identical, human labor
generally
and physiologically and ESSENTIALLY
the expenditure
of human brain, nerves, muscles, c.
Both the value creating character , and the use-value
creating character of labor ( see below), are essentially human
Marx's is a laborious humanism, in _Capital_
Capital I: The labour, however, that forms
the substance of value, is homogeneous human
labour, expenditure of one uniform labour power.
The total labour power of society, which is
embodied in the sum total of the values of all
commodities produced by that society, counts
here as one homogeneous mass of human labour
power, composed though it be of innumerable
individual units. Each of these units is the
same as any other, so far as it has the character
of the average labour power of society, and takes
effect as such; that is, so far as it requires for
producing a commodity, no more time than is needed
on an average, no more than is socially necessary.
...But the value of a commodity represents human
labour in the abstract, the expenditure of human
labour in general. And just as in society, a general
or a banker plays a great part, but mere man, on
the other hand, a very shabby part,[14] so here with
mere human labour. It is the expenditure of simple
labour power, i.e., of the labour power which, on an
average, apart from any special development, exists
in the organism of every ordinary individual.
...While, therefore, with reference to use
value, the labour contained in a commodity
counts only qualitatively, with reference to
value it counts only quantitatively, and must
first be reduced to human labour pure and simple...
..On the one hand all labour is, speaking
physiologically, an expenditure of human
labour power, and in its character of identical
abstract human labour, it creates and forms the
value of commodities...
The general value form is the reduction of all
kinds of actual labour to their common character
of being human labour generally, of being the
expenditure of human labour power.
For, in the first place, however varied the useful
kinds of labour, or productive activities, may 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 essentially
the expenditure of human brain, nerves, muscles, c.
CB:There is even an essential human natural equality
of the use-value creating character of labor.
Capital I: So far therefore as labour is a creator
of use value, is useful labour, it is a
necessary condition, independent of all forms of
society, for the existence of the human race;
it is an eternal nature-imposed necessity,
without which there can be no material exchanges
between man and Nature, and therefore no life.
___
Marxism-Thaxis mailing list
Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu
To change your options or unsubscribe go to:
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis