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Sociological Thought

notes It was not Marx objective to obtain the state of socialism. Nor was it Marx’s imagining of the future
state of society. It was not as if he had made a blue print of socialism. Marx was only saying that there
was internal contradictions, negation and dialectics even in capitalism; that is why, like feudalism
its end is determined. Therefore the fall of capitalism to be replaced by socialism is only the result of
historical law. The socialist of Marx and Engels if defined, can have the definition that it is the first
and important negation of capitalism.
Marx argues further that after the coming of socialism, history will be fulfilled by the coming of an
equitable society. After capitalism the state that will come will be the Dictatorship of the proletariat.
Then the proletariat will develop their production capabilities faster. Dictatorship stage is mostly
transitional state. After this stage is passed, then only equality will come. At this stage, the state will
wither like a flower. Now there will no bourgeois and no proletariat. The viewpoint of people will
change regarding work, and at this stage there will be class (classless) and no state (stateless). In this
equatable stage, “ everyone will have to work according to their capability, and everyone will find
fulfilment according to their needs ....” (From each according to his ability, to each according to his
need)”.

9.2 theory of surplus Value
The main objectives of Marx’s philosophy were, primary to clearly advocate support for the proletariat
class, and to prove and express the necessary destruction of the capitalist system. The main principle
in his definition of the development of capitalism and its social results in his theory of surplus value,
which he has balanced on the basis of the value of labour theory. Its meaning is, “In the end the
distributive value of any product depends on quantity of labour used in its production.” This theory
was prevalent much before marx among grant donors and aggressively–corrective theorists. in reality,
this is an English theory, and was first propagated by Sir William Petty. After him, many economists,
especially Adam Smith and David Reccardo, stressed on it and amended it.

Task What is the theory of the surplus value? Describe briefly.

According to Adam Smith, the average value of a product should be based generally on the amount of
labour used in producing it. In a similar way, according to Reccardo, the general market distribution–
value of most products is based on the labour used in its production. After Recardo, many english
writers, in the beginning of the 19 century, presented this argument that because, “workers produce
th
the entire wealth”, therefore, “workers have a right over the entire production.” Marx took many
arguments from the writings of these worker–favouring writers to strengthen his subject of value of
labour theory.
Thus it is clear that like many contemporary economists, Marx too believed that labour created value,
or that value was produced by labour. Marx has “clearly defined that the user–value or the value of its
usefulness and desirability is not related to that labour, that has been applied in its production.” Water
and air are useful, though no labour has been spend on it. Products have market value, because to
make them useful, labour was used in making them. The price of these values should be based on the
amount of necessary labour used in the production of two materials; like food–grain and iron, when
marketed, will be measured by that material that is similar in both; that which is similar in both is not
the chemicals used in production on its natural quality or factor, but human–labour, that has been
spend in its production, in this relation, Marx has written in his immortal text, Das capital, “in this
way, if we do not consider the value of usefulness of a product, then only one material remains that is

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