THE DEVELOPMENT OF MARX'S THEORY OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF SURPLUS-VALUE

Marx's theory of the production and distribution of surplus-value is based on a fundamental methodological premise, which has not been sufficiently recognized: that the total amount of surplus-value is determined prior to and independent of the division of this total amount into individual parts. The individual parts of surplus-value are then determined at a subsequent stage of the analysis, with the predetermined total amount of surplus-value taken as a given magnitude. This premise was first discussed by Marx in the Grundrisse with respect to the equalization of rates of profit across different branches of production. In the second draft of Capital, written in 1861-63, parts of which have been only recently published in English, Marx also began with this premise as he worked out his theories of rent, interest, and merchant profit. In the remaining drafts of Capital, this fundamental premise is consistently adhered to and emphasized, especially in Volume 3, in which the distribution of surplus-value is the main subject. THE DEVELOPMENT OF file:///A|/MOSELEY2.htm (1 of 21) [9/14/2000 5:05:43 PM] Marx expressed this fundamental premise of his theory concerning the prior determination of the total amount of surplus-value in terms of the distinction between the stages of analysis of "capital in general"