Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Invisible Hand and History

As has been previously discussed, Utilitarianism is inadequate to Capitalism insofar as its concepts of Pleasure and Pain abstract from prior conditions, while those of Profit and Loss do not.  Temporality is at least implicit elsewhere, as well, in Smith's system, e. g. in productive processes, in the occasioning of demand, etc.  So, if, as he proposes, Market Price is the resultant of an adjustment effected by a tendency inherent in the system, i. e. the Law of Supply and Demand, aka the Invisible Hand, implicit in it is an entire past, e. g. if climate events prompt a 10 cent increase in the price of a loaf of bread, it is with respect to a previous price, which itself reflects a change in conditions, etc.  So, another way that the Invisible Hand can be recognized as an expression of Dialectical Logic is as a motor of History.

No comments:

Post a Comment