memes

I finally found a specific quote I remembered where Marx talks about the necessity (or dispensability) of the first chapter. It was in the famous letter to Dr Kugelmann from July 11, 1868. Usually only an abridged version of the letter is shared, but the full text includes the following, just before the abridged version starts:

The unfortunate fellow does not see that, even if there were no chapter on “value” in my book, the analysis of the real relationships which I give would contain the proof and demonstration of the real value relation. The nonsense about the necessity of proving the concept of value arises from complete ignorance both of the subject dealt with and of the method of science.

Already in the first year of the publication of Capital, critics were accusing Marx of starting from an a priori and abstract concept of value. In this letter he totally disagrees, of course correctly.

So yes, the first chapter on value is important, but not required to understand the basic facts.

This is also why, on advice of Kugelmann and others, Marx attached an appendix on value to the first German edition.

@tyra@lemmy.ml might find that appendix useful