Week 1: The value problem. Rühle part 1 sections 1 and 2; Marx chapter 1 sections 1 and 2.

1. How would you define:
- commodity
- use-value
- value
- exchange-value
- abstract labour, or average social labour?
Crib-sheet

2. Why is average social labour the substance of value? What arguments against this theory do you know, and how would you answer them?
Crib-sheet

3. Can you think of any useful things which are products of human labour but not commodities?
Crib-sheet

4. What is 'the twofold nature of the labour embodied in commodities'? Why do you think Marx believed that this was 'the pivot on which a clear comprehension of political economy turns'?
Crib-sheet


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