Das Kapital by Karl Marx Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

pika Kapital by Karl Marx - Essay ExampleThe first volume of Das Kapital was published in 1867 at a time when the playacting conditions for industrial laborers were terrible and the division amongst the classes was growing increasingly more pronounced. It must not be forgotten that Das Kapital was a work born out of the industrial revolution.Marx begins the first chapter of Das Kapital with a statement concerning commodities. He defines a goodness as an object outside us, a thing that by its properties satisfies human wants of sort or another(prenominal) (125). It is interesting that Marx begins the text with a discussion and definition of a trade good and after several sequential chapters, it is clear to see that the good is one of the main driving forces stern capitalism. The commodity itself, however, is only determine according to demand or other more ethereal conditions and thus it is a perfect stage for the capitalist as it presents no fixed price in itself, but its val ue is quite an compulsive by desire and the potential for profit. To backtrack for a moment, however, a more concise definition of commodity is contained within the idea of utilisation value. This refers to a commoditys value in how it will be used and how it is desire but this value, according to Marx, has little to do with the actual labor that went into the production of the item. Again, while it is not now clear at this early point in the text, the use value versus the idea of labor be important issues because there is more distinction between the two than one faculty initially think. For instance, something might have a very high use-value and be greatly desired. This desire leads the capitalist to make it high-priced and the laborer who made the desired commodity is not paid what the desired commodity is worth, but rather is paid living wages while the surplus profits go directly to the capitalist since he owns the factor of production. While that was a very brief, con cise, but altogether limited description of the process behind commodities and use value, it is useful background information to frame the discussion as this analysis continues.After this penetration to commodities and use values in Das Kapital , the idea of rallying value becomes of equal importance. As Marx puts it in one of the important quotations from Das Kapital, As use values, commodities are, above all, of different qualities, but as stand in values they are merely different quantities, and consequently do not contain an atom of use value (127). In other words, it is the proportion by which use values of one kind exchange for use values of another kind. This is a vital and fluctuating relationship and has less to do with the commodity than it might initially seem. In short, the common element in a commoditys exchange-value is simply the value of it. This means that it all comes down to labor. This is a common tactic Marx employs, at first there a list of daunting methods for scientifically extracting a conception of value but in the end, it all boils down to questions more or less work and