You're listening to the Partial Examined Life.

We're on episode 360 Part 2 discussing Chapter 1 of Marx's Capital.

We had laid out use value versus exchange value, the commodity, its real value is congealed labor, at least

necessary congealed labor according to whatever the social norms are. So this chapter four has

four sections in it. I think we're mostly done with number one. Well, I think, yeah, I think we can

jump ahead because we discussed, we already discussed quite a bit

of what he repeats. And by jumping ahead, I mean going to page 139, where we start to talk about

the relative form of value versus the equivalent form on page 138, which is what starts section

three, which is titled

the value form or exchange value, he's going to say ultimately right, the task is to get the

origin of money, to derive money from this exchangeability of commodities. And so he wants to start

with this equation between two different commodities. So we're thinking

almost like barter. You know, ultimately, we're thinking in terms of exchangeability of commodities,

ultimately that will become money. But for now, we're going to think of a relationship between

linen and coat. So maybe 20 yards of linen equals one coat. And just as a cautionary,

he's not thinking of 20 yards of linen going into the coat. No. Coat being made out of 20.

It could be 20 pounds of butter. Okay. So two different commodities, which have nothing to do with each

other and yet are being equated. And we know that that has, we know from what's

come previously that that equation must have something to do with socially necessary labor time.

Yeah. And in fact, at the bottom of 139, after this section is, you know, begins the analysis, the simple isolator accidental form of

value in which you have 20 yards of linen equals one coat or 20 yards of linen is worth

one coat. The whole mystery of the form of value lies hidden in this simple form. Our real

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