‘Value’: A Problem for the Philosopher of Science

Abstract

It is surprising that the marxian theory of value has attracted so little attention from professional philosophers of science. All the right ingredients are there: unobservables, theoretical terms whose relation to empirical fact and whose utility to the theory are unclear; ill-defined terms attractive to the regimenter and axiomatiser; a problem concerning whether or not the theory is scientific, a challenge to represent marxian economics as a research programme which is either progressive or degenerating. Of all the problems posed to the philosophy of science by the theory this last will seem to be the most pressing, for marxists have traditionally made much of the claim that their theory of value and the subsequent theory of exploitation that it implies are scientific theories. This lecture presents an account of the philosophical problems the theory poses, as viewed by a bourgois philosopher of science.