Umoja's Questions on Capital

[Umoja]

Okay, in my attempt to better understand communist (I'm feeling the anarchy), I checked out a 100 year old copy (You'll note that was before the rise of communist states) of Capital vol. 1 from my local library.

I'm taking notes, because the book is extremely dense, and I hope to use this thread as a place to ask my relevant question.

I'm only half way through the first chapter, but I need a terminology explanation here:

Use-Value: I assume the word is a noun by how Marx uses it, but my question is... is merely defined as 'something useful.' Maybe it's a consequence of my translation, which leads me to believe I should read a more modern translation (if that's been done). I've never seen the word used on Che-lives.... sorry RevLeft, so I'm curious about how it's used properly and it's meaning?

EDIT:
For what it's worth, in the first chapter, is Marx developing on the ideas of Proudhon? It seems like it's the Labor theory of value he's talking about.

[amanondeathrow]

Use-Value: I assume the word is a noun by how Marx uses it, but my question is... is merely defined as 'something useful.'

Use value is the worth of a product that is not a result, and is independent, of the labor used to create it.

The value is usually something that is accepted by the respective culture and is not the creation of the producer or the owner/seller.

[ComradeRed]

Use-value refers to the character of the commodity (this is what is meant by "quality"...not to be confused with quality as in high quality goods).

This passage, if read extremely carefully, explains it in more detail:

Originally posted by [email protected] Chapter 1
The utility of a thing makes it a use-value. But this utility is not a thing of air. Being limited by the physical properties of the commodity, it has no existence apart from that commodity. A commodity, such as iron, corn, or a diamond, is therefore, so far as it is a material thing, a use-value, something useful. This property of a commodity is independent of the amount of labour required to appropriate its useful qualities. When treating of use-value, we always assume to be dealing with definite quantities, such as dozens of watches, yards of linen, or tons of iron. The use-values of commodities furnish the material for a special study, that of the commercial knowledge of commodities. Use-values become a reality only by use or consumption: they also constitute the substance of all wealth, whatever may be the social form of that wealth. In the form of society we are about to consider, they are, in addition, the material depositories of exchange-value. -- emphasis added

Probably the best way to study Das Kapital is to rewrite it in words you can understand, in a way that you can understand. That's what I did, but it's a slow tedious effort ;)

[rouchambeau]

If I were you, I would read it backwards (last chapter to first). The earlier chapters are incredably boring and useless. The later ones is where all of the good stuff is at.

[ComradeRed]

The earlier chapters are incredably boring and useless. I disagree, I think that the earlier chapters are important and are built upon later on.

Though, granted, I read Ricardo and Smith first. The earlier sections are basically a summary of Ricardo and Smith, as well as some patches and improvements on their work.