Understanding Marx: A Reconstruction and Critique of Capital (Studies in Moral, Political, and Legal Philosophy, 10)

The concept of reproduction -- Adam Smith and the concept of natural price -- David Ricardo and the labor theory of natural price -- Marx's theory of exploitation and surplus value -- Marx's theory of natural price -- Balanced growth and the conservation of surplus value -- Envoi: Some doubts about Marx's theory of value and exploitation -- Appendix A: A formal analysis of Ricardian and Marxian political economy -- Appendix B: An analytical reconstruction of Marx's value categories.;This book explains the development of the classical theory of value from Adam Smith to Karl Marx in a form readily accessible to readers unfamiliar with anything more than high school algebra, while at the same time offering to the specialist a fundamental criticism of Marxian political economy and an original and controversial interpretation of "Capital". The author clarifies recent mathematical reinterpretations of classical political economy, so that philosophers, political scientists, psychologists, and sociologists interested in Marx's theories can understand the modern rehabilitation of his political economy. In the past quarter century economists and policy makers have increasingly concerned themselves with questions of economic growth and the distribution of wealth and income. The classical political economy of Smith, Ricardo, and Marx focused directly on these two issues. This book contributes to an understanding of the fundamental insights of Ricardo and Marx that have now become directly relevant to policy debates. -- From publisher's description. Cover 1 Contents 8 Preface -1 Introduction -1 One: The Concept of Reproduction -1 1. The Concept of Reproduction in General -1 2. A Preliminary Analysis of Material Reproduction -1 Two: Adam Smith and the Concept of Natural Price -1 Three: David Ricardo and the Labor Theory of Natural Price -1 1. The Essay on Profits -1 2. The Theory of the Principles -1 3. Land and Labor -1 Four: Marx's Theory of Exploitation and Surplus Value -1 1. The Theoretical Presuppositions of Volume One of Capital -1 2. Surplus Value and the Critique of Capitalist Exploitation -1 3. Labor as the Substance of Value -1 4. Abstract Homogeneous Socially Necessary Labor -1 Five: Marx's Theory of Natural Price -1 1. The Quantitative Determination of Surplus Value -1 2. Prices and Values: The Mystification of Capitalism -1 3. Is Marx Right? -1 Six: Balanced Growth and the Conservation of Surplus Value -1 1. Why Did Marx Believe That Total Profits Equal Total Surplus Value? -1 2. The Conditions of the Validity of the Principle of the Conservation of Surplus Value -1 Technical Afterword to Chapter Six A Numerical Example -1 Envoi Some Doubts about Marxs Theory of Value and Exploitation -1 Appendix A A Formal Analysis of Ricardian and Marxian Political Economy -1 Appendix B An Analytical Reconstruction of Marxs Value Categories -1 Bibliography -1 Index -1 Robert Paul Wolff explains the development of the classical theory of value from Adam Smith to Karl Marx in a form readily accessible to readers unfamiliar with anything more than high school algebra, while at the same time offering to the specialist a fundamental criticism of Marxian political economy and an original and controversial interpretation of Capital. He clarifies recent mathematical reinterpretations of classical political economy, so that philosophers, political scientists, psychologists, and sociologists interested in Marx's theories can understand the modern rehabilitation of his political economy. Originally published in 1985. Robert Paul Wolff. Includes Index. Bibliography: P. 222-225.