Re: [PEN-L] power

-Original Message- From: PEN-L list [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Charles Brown State power is backed up by military and police forces which are quite earthly ( See Engels on the history of force). The allocation of resources can be theorized based on the idea of state power

[PEN-L] Nomos

In Greek thought, the nomos is the law / convention / institution of society, as opposed to the physis which denotes nature. For a thought-provoking discussion of how this tension bears on Marx's value theory, see: Castoriadis, Cornelius. 1984. Value, Equality, Justice, Politics: From Marx to

[PEN-L] Socially created categories

Socially created categories ^^ JN [new]: We fully recognize Marx's insistence on the socially created nature of all capitalist categories, including abstract labor. In our view, this is one of his greatest merits. But as noted, we also think he got entangled (a) in

Re: [PEN-L] Socially created categories

^^ JN: In Greek thought, the nomos is the law / convention / institution of society, as opposed to the physis which denotes nature. For a thought-provoking discussion of how this tension bears on Marx's value theory, see: CB: That seems to be what is termed culture often today,

Re: [PEN-L] Socially created categories

draw on the physis. That is one aspect of Castoriadis's argument. Jonathan Nitzan http://www.bnarchives.net http://www.internationalism.org/wr/213_castoriadis.htm Death of Cornelieus Castoriadis: Bourgeoisie pays homage to one of its servants The bourgeois press, especially in France, has made a

Re: [PEN-L] Socially created categories

I suppose that settles the value problem. Louis Proyect wrote: draw on the physis. That is one aspect of Castoriadis's argument. Jonathan Nitzan http://www.bnarchives.net http://www.internationalism.org/wr/213_castoriadis.htm Death of Cornelieus Castoriadis: Bourgeoisie pays homage to one of its

Re: [PEN-L] Socially created categories

Jonathan Nitzan: I suppose that settles the value problem. I'll tell you the truth, Jonathan. I think that the value problem serves the same role for Marxist economists that the novels of Jane Austen serve for the ALA. They are a never-ending source of controversy that provide an excuse to fly to

Re: [PEN-L] Socially created categories

--- Jonathan Nitzan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I suppose that settles the value problem. No, but it is a personal attack of the sort we've all come to expect and love! = Nu, zayats, pogodi! __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - now with 250MB free storage. Learn

Re: [PEN-L] Socially created categories

This is bullshit. Posting an article that is critical of Castoriadis falls within the bounds of PEN-L. It is about as much of a personal attack as posting an article that shows how Russians are disgusted with Putin. Just because you are a fan of Castoriadis or Putin, don't expect others to wave

Re: [PEN-L] Socially created categories

In general, I don't like to argue with you, Louis, because your argument style and language are too violent to my taste. However, I do think your point here is well taken, and I share your opinion (if I indeed read it correctly), that the real controversy is over prices, not how value gets

Re: [PEN-L] Socially created categories

I did not catch Chris's note in time. There was nothing wrong with Lou's article. I found it interesting. Chris's was mildly taunting Lou took the bait. The debate that Jonathan ignited has raised several interesting issues, including Lou's question about the value of value theory. On a

Re: [PEN-L] power and value

[was: power] It's true, as LP says, that in many ways, Marxian value theory is akin to Eng-Lit scholars' discussions of Jane Austen, i.e., irrelevant. However, that's only if the discussion is totally divorced from empirical research and practical issues, as with the standard transformation

Re: [PEN-L] Socially created categories

You may remember that in my first email to the list about New Capitalism, or New Imperialism? I suggested that: Those who are comfortable with the classical dichotomy between real values and nominal prices need not bother. Apparently, the suggestion was ignored. Jonathan Nitzan

Re: [PEN-L] power and value

I think that Jim's statement about value theory is excellent. Devine, James wrote: I think that value theory is crucial if political economists want to avoid the Scylla of empiricism and the Charybdis of neoclassical theory. We need some kind of abstract theory to avoid simply describing the

Re: [PEN-L] power

Actually, my answer to the question of how to measure the exchange-value and value of an old PC was much too glib. I really don't think microeconomic values are of much use. Value is a macrosocietal concept. Jim Devine, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] web: http://myweb.lmu.edu/jdevine/

[PEN-L] Query? Re: Socially created categories

Louis Proyect wrote: http://www.internationalism.org/wr/213_castoriadis.htm What is the ICC? There must be others than me who can never remember initials that they don't encounter regularly. Carrol

Re: [PEN-L] Query? Re: Socially created categories

Interstate Commerce Commission? ;-) Jim Devine, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] web: http://myweb.lmu.edu/jdevine/ -Original Message- From: PEN-L list [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Carrol Cox Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2005 10:05 AM To: PEN-L@SUS.CSUCHICO.EDU Subject: [PEN-L]

Re: [PEN-L] Query? Re: Socially created categories

At 01:05 PM 1/18/2005, you wrote: Louis Proyect wrote: http://www.internationalism.org/wr/213_castoriadis.htm What is the ICC? There must be others than me who can never remember initials that they don't encounter regularly. Carrol Split-off from the Spartacist League. Don't think much of their

Re: [PEN-L] Query? Re: Socially created categories

On Tue, Jan 18, 2005 at 01:10:24PM -0500, Louis Proyect wrote: At 01:05 PM 1/18/2005, you wrote: Louis Proyect wrote: http://www.internationalism.org/wr/213_castoriadis.htm What is the ICC? There must be others than me who can never remember initials that they don't encounter

Re: [PEN-L] Query? Re: Socially created categories

That's the LFI (http://www.internationalist.org) - the ICC (International Communist Current) are council communists. For people interested in this sort of thing, I recommend leftist_transpotters on yahoo.com. -- www.marxmail.org

[PEN-L] disease alert

The Center for Disease Control has issued a warning about a new virulent strain of sexually transmitted disease. This disease is contracted through dangerous and high risk behavior. The disease is called Gonorrhea Lectim, pronounced gonna re-elect him. Many victims have contracted it after

Re: [PEN-L] power and value

Thanks, but while reading a short article by Mike Lebowitz (from his soon-to-be-published blockbuster) I came to realize that there's a unity between the Scylla of empiricism and the Charybdis of neoclassical economics. One of the big attractions of neoclassical economics is its empiricism: it

[PEN-L] Visit Guantanamo Bay

Visit Guantanamo Bay: http://montages.blogspot.com/2005/01/visit-guantanamo-bay.html -- Yoshie * Critical Montages: http://montages.blogspot.com/ * Proud of Britain: http://www.proudofbritain.net/ and http://www.proud-of-britain.org.uk/

Re: [PEN-L] power and value

Is Mike's article available? ahmet Thanks, but while reading a short article by Mike Lebowitz (from his soon-to-be-published blockbuster) I came to realize that there's a unity between the Scylla of empiricism and the Charybdis of neoclassical economics. One of the big attractions of

Re: [PEN-L] power and value

I don't know. Jim Devine, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] web: http://myweb.lmu.edu/jdevine/ -Original Message- From: PEN-L list [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2005 2:47 PM To: PEN-L@SUS.CSUCHICO.EDU Subject: Re: [PEN-L] power and

[PEN-L] Marx's absolute general law

Pen-l people might be interested in my analysis of Marx's absolute general law of capitalist accumulation. It's at http://myweb.lmu.edu/jdevine/AGLoCA.pdf. You need Adobe Reader to read it. Jim Devine, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] web: http://myweb.lmu.edu/jdevine/

Re: [PEN-L] power and value

Not really. It's just the first draft of a chapter ('The Fallacy of Everyday Notions') for a collection of essays on method, crisis, etc; most are older pieces (eg., critiques of analytical marxism, neo-ricardians, brenner, falling rate of profit, etc) but there are several unpublished or new ones

[PEN-L] Name this economist

Who wrote: "The hours of labor are too long. The world has been caught in the wheels of its own machinery which will not stop. With each advance in invention and mechanical power it works harder still. New and feverish desires for luxuries replace each other as older wants are satisfied.

Re: [PEN-L] Name this economist

Eugene Coyle wrote: Tom Walker ineligible. I should hope so! I used that quote in a conference presentation I gave last year. But how about if I give a hint, eh? The Sandwichman __ Post your free ad now!

[PEN-L] Economics of racism (cont.)

(No worry, it's just a class thing: "Tyamzashe said the lack of white boxers will be discussed at Boxing SA's convention at the Hilton hotel in Sandton.")South Africa needs white boxersBongani Magasela | Johannesburg, South Africa18 January 2005 12:28Boxing SA chairperson Mthobi Tyamzashe

Re: [PEN-L] Name this economist

From: PEN-L list [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Eugene Coyle Who wrote:     The hours of labor are too long.  The world has been caught in the wheels of its own machinery which will not stop.  With each advance in invention and mechanical power it

Re: [PEN-L] power [and the limits to power]

We can make both as if assumptions, but I think they are of a different type. It seems to me that capitalists cannot convert values to prices, not even as if, unless values do exist. By contrast, capitalists can, at least in their own mind, translate uncertainty into a risk premium. In fact, they

[PEN-L] The Historicising of Auschwitz

In the UK the BBC and other media are hanging a series of articles and programmes around the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. I have not had time to see many of them, but I was discussing them with an old German friend of mine, who escaped as an 11 year old with her mother to north