Marx's economic vocabulary and relationship to classical economics

Marx on Labor

Heilbroner's honesty at the onset of his writing on Karl Marx reveals the flaws and distortion contained within the often complex, if not mystical tone of Marx's philosophy. The admitted sheer immensity of work produced by Marx and his partner Engels cannot be completely understood. The author confessed " the collected works compromise forty volumes, each 700-1000 pages in length. I have no room for many documents of great historical importance." This dismissal is proof of the limited value of Marx and his theory. Cherry picking this and that from any collection suggests an inconsistency, if not cloaking, of the true essence of Marx's art.

Regardless of the irrationality behind the author's analysis, there are still worthwhile ideas contained within the writing. The alignment of Marx and Adam Smith's appreciation for the value of labor and the corresponding explanations of each demonstrated a quality of humanity in both philosophers' works. Labor is the underpinning issue in the creation of both men's ideas about what holds practical value and what does not.

Marx arrived at the idea of the value of labor through the idea of comparing the material world of commodity and applying it to the internal or esoteric human value of labor. The idea becomes more metaphysical as the chapter progresses and Marx's ideas are contrasted with those of Aristotle. In this example, Aristotle's idea on labor was strictly an abstract idea where Marx attempted to materialize the idea into labor-power, a commodity all unto itself.

This is the critical basis on which Marx built the rest of his social order. The transformation of labor as an abstract idea towards a material thing is how Marx distinguishes himself from other thinkers on such matters. This labor force, integral in the formation of capital markets and exchange, can now therefore be manipulated and forged into a social technology that provides and just outcome.

Essentially, Marx is the deifier of labor. Labor itself is a word and cannot be accurately quantified regardless of the rhetoric persuasion he offers. Marx is inspirational in his ideas, but they fall short of any real value or practicality. This is due much in part to his refusal to see labor as an individual and not collective ideal. The coercion of labor that Marx calls for appears simply to project his only desire for control and tyranny that he argues against in the form of capitalist regimes.