logo
episode-header-image
Feb 2025
48m 22s

Ep. 360: Karl Marx on Economic Value (Pa...

Mark Linsenmayer, Wes Alwan, Seth Paskin, Dylan Casey
About this episode

On Capital (1867), Ch. 1, "The Commodity."

What makes something we buy or sell valuable? Marx says it's ultimately the labor that goes into it, though there are some wrinkles in formulating this accurately, and the commodities and surrounding marketplace activity blind us to labor's role and its ethical import.

Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion.

Sponsor: You may also the Fallacious Trump podcast at fallacioustrump.com.

Up next
Today
Ep. 374: Discussing Liberalism (Lincoln, et al) with Walter Sterling (Part One)
What's the crisis of liberal democracy? Dylan, Wes and Seth are joined by St. John's College President J. Walter Sterling to discuss Abraham Lincoln's "On the Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions" (1838) plus the beginnings of Steven Pinker's Enlightenment Now (2018), Patri ... Show More
46m 38s
Yesterday
PEL Presents Closereads: Peter Railton's "Moral Realism" (Wrap Up)
We are concluding our treatment of Peter Railton's "Moral Realism" (1984), and given that you likely haven't listened to the seven preceding parts, this discussion can serve as a standalone summary of not only Railton's view, but of the best efforts of Mark and Wes to actually fi ... Show More
58m 5s
Aug 21
Announcement: Mark's "Foundational Political Philosophy Texts" Fall 2025 Class
I bet you’d like to have an excuse to read some Aristotle, and Locke, Rousseau, Simone Weil, and other fun texts. Well, go read about this opportunity at partiallyexaminedlife.com/class, and then follow the link to enroll. Not sure? Watch a sample (a full seminar from last semest ... Show More
4m 44s
Recommended Episodes
May 1
[BEST OF] Estranged Labor: Karl Marx on Alienation
ORIGINALLY RELEASED Apr 4, 2020 In this solo episode, Breht breaks down Karl Marx’s powerful concept of alienation from his Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844. He walks listeners through the four types of alienation Marx identified—alienation from the product, the labor ... Show More
22m 13s
Jun 10
[BEST OF] The Fundamentals of Marxism: Intro to Political Economy
ORIGINALLY RELEASED Feb 3, 2021 In this episode of Red Menace, Alyson and Breht introduce the core concepts of Marxist political economy by an analysis of the history of political economy, core economic concepts within Marxism, and much more! Make sure to subscribe to Red Menace ... Show More
1h 26m
Mar 2025
Pure Excess: Capitalism, Commodity Fetishism, and the Promise of More
Todd McGowan joins the show once again, this time to discuss his newest book "Pure Excess: Capitalism and the Commodity". Together, he and Breht discuss commodity fetishism, the tensions between Marxism and psychoanalysis, what a critique of the subjective aspects of capitalism o ... Show More
1h 28m
Sep 2024
PREVIEW: Adrian Johnston & The Inhuman Selfishness of Capital
Alright, we’re back again with ADRIAN JOHNSTON to discuss more of his book INFINITE GREED: THE INHUMAN SELFISHNESS OF CAPITAL. FULL EPISODE ON OUR PATREON HERE! Adrian takes us through some of the shifts in Freud’s positions on Marxism and this insistence on negativity as history ... Show More
10m 46s
Jun 2024
Episode #202 ... Why we can't think beyond capitalism. - Neoliberalism (Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism)
Today we begin our discussion on the work of Mark Fisher surrounding his concept of Capitalism Realism. We talk about the origins of Neoliberalism, it's core strategies, some critiques of Neoliberalism, and the hyperfocus on individualism and competition that has come to define a ... Show More
35m 16s
Mar 2024
SOCIAL MOBILITY- is the capitalist dream just a myth?
Nafkote and Max interview Dr. Faiza Shaheen on how capitalism has failed on its main selling point – work hard and you will succeed. The idea that everyone has equal opportunity in life is just a myth. Your success in life is significantly influenced by where you are born, your s ... Show More
23m 29s
Jul 2023
Marxism
In this episode, Dr Carveth teases apart Marxism and Leninism. For Don, they are not the same thing. He then goes on to discuss democratic Marxism, social democracy, and anti-authoritarianism. Dr Don Carveth works with Aodhán Moran to produce this podcast. Contact Aodhán for podc ... Show More
16m 38s
Mar 2025
Marxism for the Masses w/ Savannah from All Power Books
Marxism is not some esoteric philosophy meant to be analyzed and discussed in the ivory towers of the academy—not that appreciating Marxism from an intellectual perspective is wrong, or anything—we do that quite a bit—but at its essence, Marxism is a weapon. It’s a tool for chang ... Show More
1h 49m
Jul 2024
Breaking Up with Capitalism w/ Malaika Jabali
As socialists in the United States one of our most important tasks—at least under our current material conditions—is to raise class consciousness among the mass of people: the basic work of tuning people in to the existence of structures and systems that define and limit our live ... Show More
54m 46s
Mar 2025
American Capitalism in Decay: An Analysis (Pokepreet X Rev Left)
(There was a small audio issue at the end of this episode, we fixed it and are re-releasing it) Breht goes on the Pokepreet Podcast as a guest to have a fun and fiery conversation about his ideological development, why the United States is so hostile to socialism even relative to ... Show More
2h 18m