Well argued, Jim. Makes sense to me. I have always thought (without any knowledge of Pragmatism beyond the superficial) that the LTV makes sense for explaining EXPLOITATION --- the existence of surplus value which is determined by the push and pull of "power" at the point of production --- I have never believed (or understood?) the idea that the LTV can be a basis for determining how PRICES are determined ---
On Wed, Mar 11, 2026 at 5:44 AM Jim Farmelant via groups.io <jimfarmelant= [email protected]> wrote: > Imagine trying to decide between two competing explanations of the same > phenomenon, when neither can be conclusively proven right or wrong. This is > the dilemma faced by economists debating the nature of value: should it be > measured by the labor that produces goods, as Marx famously proposed, or by > subjective preferences, as marginalist economists have argued? In the early > 1930s, Sidney Hook <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Hook> confronted > this very question, not as a technical economist, but as a philosopher > influenced by pragmatism,(in particular the pragmatism of his teacher John > Dewey <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dewey>). His solution was > surprising: instead of insisting that one theory was empirically correct, > he argued that the theories should be judged by their *usefulness in > understanding capitalism*, a move that anticipates later debates in the > philosophy of science about theory choice and underdetermination. > (More at: > https://medium.com/@jimfarmelant/sidney-hooks-pragmatist-defense-of-marx-s-labor-theory-of-value-1965ac82237d > _._,_._,_ > ------------------------------ > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#41062): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/41062 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/118257263/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/13617172/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
