Law of Value 8: Subject/Object by Brendan M. Cooney

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brendanmcooney on Nov 15, 2011

One of the more common objections raised to Marx’s theory of value, at least here in the theoretical void of cyberspace, is the objection posed by subjective value theory. Though these modern objections often take quite a crude, simplistic tone, they are echoes of a rather old debate, one that dates back to debates between Marxists and Austrian economists that took place in the late 1800′s and early 1900′s.

Austrian thinkers like Bohn-Bawerk and Mises were staunch defenders of free markets and private property, seeing capitalism as the ultimate expression of human freedom. In response to the revolutionary challenge of Marx’s economic ideas they advanced an alternative view of economics in which economic value was not determined by human labor but by the subjective valuations of individuals.

The Austrians called their theory Subjective Value Theory (STV), also known as marginal utility theory, and they called Marx’s theory an Objective value theory. Marx himself never used this sort of language to describe his theory because such a simplistic dichotomy would have robbed his theory of much of its nuance and depth. Nevertheless, Marx’s defenders often accepted this dichotomy, advancing a staunch defense of Marx’s supposed “objective” theory of value. If we really want to understand Marx’s theory of value we need to dig a little deeper than this.

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via Law of Value 8: Subject/Object « Kapitalism101

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see

Law of Value 1: Introduction by Brendan M. Cooney

Law of Value 2: The Fetishism of Commodities by Brendan M. Cooney

Law of Value 3: Das MudPie by Brendan M. Cooney

Law of Value 4: Use-Value, Exchange Value, Value by Brendan M Cooney

Law of Value 5: Contradiction by Brendan M. Cooney

Law of Value 6: Socially Necessary Labor Time by Brendan M. Cooney

Law of Value 7: Production and Exchange by Brendan M. Cooney

Law of Value 9: Abstract Labor by Brendan M. Cooney

Law of Value 10: Price and Value by Brendan M. Cooney