Use-value’s definition is circular within value-producing society.

Evidence

The Marxian definition of use-value – as the ‘usefulness of a thing’ – is only accurate in a value-producing society whose precondition and result are usevalues themselves. Joan Robinson notes the mediacy between use-value and exchange-value when she claims that ‘[u]tility is a metaphysical concept of impregnable circularity; utility is the quality in commodities that makes individuals want to buy them, and the fact that individuals want to buy commodities shows that they have utility’. — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 1277

Categorization

• QUESTION: Robinson’s circularity point is worth chasing: does Adorno’s own critique of ‘utility’ build on or diverge from Robinson’s skeptical empiricism?
• XREF: connects to: Use-value is a purely formal, historically produced concept within political economy — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 1285; Labour-power is the sole commodity whose use-value is the creation of value itself — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 1356; Exchange becomes totalized across society by encroaching on production — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 1376 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Labour-power is the sole commodity whose use-value is the creation of value itself #exemplifies (0.85) — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 1356
• Capitalism and materialism shape a society’s entire worldview and value system #expands (0.75)
• Exchange becomes totalized across society by encroaching on production #expands (0.72) — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 1376