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Marx’s Law of value and the ontology of labour: a Castoriadian critical point of view

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  • Richard SOBEL

    (University of Lille and CLERSE – Centre Lillois d’Études et de Recherches sociologiques et Économiques (UMR 8019 CNRS) (France))

Abstract

In Marx’s thought, is ‘law of value’ a particular law of capitalism (historicism) or a general law of the economy (naturalism)? To clarify this ambiguity, this article proposes to employ the social ontology of Cornélius Castoriadis. For it, ‘labour’ is not a substance, but a recent historical creation through which, finally, the capitalist mode of production expresses a fundamental truth about all society’s way of being. From this perspective, we explore some consequences of this deconstruction for the theory of value as current neo-Marxist approaches may employ it today in their economic analyses.

Suggested Citation

  • Richard SOBEL, 2020. "Marx’s Law of value and the ontology of labour: a Castoriadian critical point of view," The Journal of Philosophical Economics, Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, The Journal of Philosophical Economics, vol. 13(2), pages 116-136, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bus:jphile:v:13:y:2020:i:2:n:5
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Geoff Hodgson, 1982. "Marx without the Labor Theory of Value," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 14(2), pages 59-65, June.
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    1. Richard Sobel, 2020. "Marx’s Law of value and the ontology of labour: a Castoriadian critical point of view," Post-Print hal-03013716, HAL.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    law of value. naturalism; work; social ontology; Marx; Castoriadis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B14 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought through 1925 - - - Socialist; Marxist

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