The Problem of Use-Value for a Dialectic of Capital

Abstract

It is well known that Marx’s Capital was influenced profoundly by Hegel’s dialectical logic; this goes well beyond Marx’s flirting with Hegelian expressions. However, the deep structure so influenced is not immediately visible. Moreover, it is almost certain that the appropriation of Hegel’s logic by Marx was inconsistent and obscure even to him. We are forced therefore to start anew with the problem of how to construct a ‘dialectic of capital’. When one speaks of a ‘dialectic of capital’ it is necessary to explain why and how this object of study may be expected to have a dialectical character in the first place. Given that the great exponent of modern dialectics, namely Hegel, was an idealist, and given the implausibility of Engelsian ‘materialist dialectic’, the suspicion must arise that dialectical arguments are peculiarly suited to illuminating the logical structure of systems of ideas, and then to such social forms as may be represented as the ‘embodiment’ of such logical relations.