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Alienation in the Form of Value (Heterodoxly Approaching Das Kapital)

Received: 7 June 2021     Accepted: 5 July 2021     Published: 23 November 2021
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Abstract

The objective of this work is to access what we can refer to as the "nerve core" of Marx's dialectical thinking as it appears in in Das Kapital linking it to the concept of alienation (a key concept of the same thinker). Marx's work has been the victim of a sui generis treatment, which would be unacceptable to any of the classical authors. Such intellectual inconsistency with respect to Marx affects all Western thought and, especially, European thought, which declared Marx's thought “officially dead” (i.e. Bad Godesberg, 1959 and, in general, the so called “postmodernism”). Another pathology that affects the study of Marx's thought is the non-distinction between what constitutes the author's thinking properly, and the indeterminate speculative magma of which "Marxism" is composed (of which, as is well known, Marx himself said not be part). Another bad habit is to separate Marx into different characters based on the interests of the user, i.e.: the "young" Marx and the "mature" Marx; the "Feuerbachian" Marx, the "Hegelian" Marx, the "economist" Marx, the "sociologist" Marx, the "philosopher" Marx, the " anthropologist" Marx, or the "methodologist" Marx. There is only one Marx; a philosopher who not only studies the history of philosophy, but (as once did the lucid minds of Plato or Aristotle) also studies the most complex entity of the known Nature: the human being in its entirety, in the most extensive sense of the concept; that is, as a system. In Das Kapital, the concept of alienation is taken for granted, since it is part of the author's intellectual baggage and, naturally, does not have to explain it again (there are those who believe that the "mature Marx" abandoned it). In any case, we rely on what Marx vehemently expressed regarding the part where the form of value is analysed: he insists that the most important and essential of his work is contained in this chapter, whose reading and assimilation is indispensable for the full understanding of the work. It is in this context that he writes that "the secret of every form of value is contained in the simple form."

Published in International Journal of Philosophy (Volume 9, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijp.20210904.15
Page(s) 204-215
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Society, Reality, Alienation, Marx, Value, System

References
[1] Althusser. L. Para leer El Capital, SXXI, (MADRID, 2010).
[2] Aristoteles Politica, GREDOS, (MADRID, 1988).
[3] Bertalanffy, L. V. T.G. de Sistemas,FCE (MEXICO, 1976).
[4] Hegel, G. W. F. Ciencia de la Lógica, S/H (B. AIRES, 1974).
[5] Marx, K. El Capital, Crítica, OME 40 (BARCELONA, 1976).
[6] Marx, K. Gründrisse, Crítica, OME 65 (BARCELONA, 1977).
[7] Soler, J. El concepte d’alienació en el pensament de Karl Marx. UB. (Barcelona, 2000).
[8] Soler, J. Das Kapital: el secreto de la forma simple de valor. Rebelion, (Paris, 2014).
[9] Takahashi, Del feudalismo al capitalismo, (BCN, 1986).
[10] Vernant, J. P. El hombre griego, AE, (MADRID 1993).
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    Jordi Soler Alomà. (2021). Alienation in the Form of Value (Heterodoxly Approaching Das Kapital). International Journal of Philosophy, 9(4), 204-215. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20210904.15

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    Jordi Soler Alomà. Alienation in the Form of Value (Heterodoxly Approaching Das Kapital). Int. J. Philos. 2021, 9(4), 204-215. doi: 10.11648/j.ijp.20210904.15

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    AMA Style

    Jordi Soler Alomà. Alienation in the Form of Value (Heterodoxly Approaching Das Kapital). Int J Philos. 2021;9(4):204-215. doi: 10.11648/j.ijp.20210904.15

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijp.20210904.15,
      author = {Jordi Soler Alomà},
      title = {Alienation in the Form of Value (Heterodoxly Approaching Das Kapital)},
      journal = {International Journal of Philosophy},
      volume = {9},
      number = {4},
      pages = {204-215},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijp.20210904.15},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20210904.15},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijp.20210904.15},
      abstract = {The objective of this work is to access what we can refer to as the "nerve core" of Marx's dialectical thinking as it appears in in Das Kapital linking it to the concept of alienation (a key concept of the same thinker). Marx's work has been the victim of a sui generis treatment, which would be unacceptable to any of the classical authors. Such intellectual inconsistency with respect to Marx affects all Western thought and, especially, European thought, which declared Marx's thought “officially dead” (i.e. Bad Godesberg, 1959 and, in general, the so called “postmodernism”). Another pathology that affects the study of Marx's thought is the non-distinction between what constitutes the author's thinking properly, and the indeterminate speculative magma of which "Marxism" is composed (of which, as is well known, Marx himself said not be part). Another bad habit is to separate Marx into different characters based on the interests of the user, i.e.: the "young" Marx and the "mature" Marx; the "Feuerbachian" Marx, the "Hegelian" Marx, the "economist" Marx, the "sociologist" Marx, the "philosopher" Marx, the " anthropologist" Marx, or the "methodologist" Marx. There is only one Marx; a philosopher who not only studies the history of philosophy, but (as once did the lucid minds of Plato or Aristotle) also studies the most complex entity of the known Nature: the human being in its entirety, in the most extensive sense of the concept; that is, as a system. In Das Kapital, the concept of alienation is taken for granted, since it is part of the author's intellectual baggage and, naturally, does not have to explain it again (there are those who believe that the "mature Marx" abandoned it). In any case, we rely on what Marx vehemently expressed regarding the part where the form of value is analysed: he insists that the most important and essential of his work is contained in this chapter, whose reading and assimilation is indispensable for the full understanding of the work. It is in this context that he writes that "the secret of every form of value is contained in the simple form."},
     year = {2021}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Alienation in the Form of Value (Heterodoxly Approaching Das Kapital)
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    AB  - The objective of this work is to access what we can refer to as the "nerve core" of Marx's dialectical thinking as it appears in in Das Kapital linking it to the concept of alienation (a key concept of the same thinker). Marx's work has been the victim of a sui generis treatment, which would be unacceptable to any of the classical authors. Such intellectual inconsistency with respect to Marx affects all Western thought and, especially, European thought, which declared Marx's thought “officially dead” (i.e. Bad Godesberg, 1959 and, in general, the so called “postmodernism”). Another pathology that affects the study of Marx's thought is the non-distinction between what constitutes the author's thinking properly, and the indeterminate speculative magma of which "Marxism" is composed (of which, as is well known, Marx himself said not be part). Another bad habit is to separate Marx into different characters based on the interests of the user, i.e.: the "young" Marx and the "mature" Marx; the "Feuerbachian" Marx, the "Hegelian" Marx, the "economist" Marx, the "sociologist" Marx, the "philosopher" Marx, the " anthropologist" Marx, or the "methodologist" Marx. There is only one Marx; a philosopher who not only studies the history of philosophy, but (as once did the lucid minds of Plato or Aristotle) also studies the most complex entity of the known Nature: the human being in its entirety, in the most extensive sense of the concept; that is, as a system. In Das Kapital, the concept of alienation is taken for granted, since it is part of the author's intellectual baggage and, naturally, does not have to explain it again (there are those who believe that the "mature Marx" abandoned it). In any case, we rely on what Marx vehemently expressed regarding the part where the form of value is analysed: he insists that the most important and essential of his work is contained in this chapter, whose reading and assimilation is indispensable for the full understanding of the work. It is in this context that he writes that "the secret of every form of value is contained in the simple form."
    VL  - 9
    IS  - 4
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Faculty of Philosophy, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

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