工人出卖的是劳动还是劳动力——劳动力价值说的逻辑拷问

Does A Worker Sell His Labor or Labor Force:An Examination on the Logic of Labor Theory of Value

劳动力价值说是将早期资本主义接近于最低生活费的特定工资水平当成了与劳动力再生产成本相对应的劳动力价值,从而混同了现象与本质。在现实世界中,工人出售的根本上不是劳动力而是具有某种规定性的劳动。就劳动而言,否定劳动买卖的理由都不成立:无论是未来品还是非商品都可以交易,因为市场经济的发展已经将越来越多的非劳动品纳入了交易范畴;劳动买卖也不会违反价值规律和剩余价值规律,因为劳动的价值根本上体现在其所创造的产品有用性。就劳动力而言,劳动者实际出卖的也不会是劳动力:劳动能力不能等同于劳动产品,从而不具有商品的完全属性;劳动力天然依附于劳动者,从而无法进行单独出售;劳动力的买卖还会遇到计量上的挑战,因为劳动力本身就是不确定的。其实,马克思是批判性地提出劳动力价值这一概念:资本主义的无节制发展导致劳动买卖退化成了劳动力买卖,工人就像奴隶那样出售自身,这体现出早期资本主义中资本家对工人赤裸裸的剥削。但是,如果囿于劳动力价值说,不仅无法有效解释工资水平的提升,而且无法洞察更为广泛的剥削问题。相反,基于契约方地位和契约权内容这两大维度,可以深入揭示劳动买卖与劳动力买卖的根本性以及日益增大的差异,进而洞察资本主义的劳资关系及其产生的剥削等问题。

The labor theory of value originates from the distinction between labor and labor force in order to solve the generation problem of surplus value, which is based on the unrealistic logical premise of equivalent exchange law.Accordingly, it will fall into the dilemma of theory and practice. As for its root cause, it lies in that the labor theory of value takes the specific wage level close to the minimum living cost in early capitalism as the value of labor force corresponding to the cost of labor reproduction itself, thus confusing the phenomenon and essence.In the real world, what workers sell is not labor force at all, but the labor with certain regulations. On the one hand, as far as labor is concerned, the three reasons for negating labor-trading in political economy textbooks are not tenable. Both future goods and non-goods can be traded, because the development of market economy has brought more and more non-labor products into the trading category. The sale of labor will not violate the law of value and the law of surplus value, because the value of labor is fundamentally reflected in the usefulness of the products it creates. On the other hand, as far as labor force is concerned, what workers actually sell cannot be labor. Labor capacity cannot be equal to labor products, so it does not have the complete attribute of goods. Labor force is naturally attached to labor, so it cannot be sold alone. The trade of labor force will also encounter measurement challenges, because labor force itself is uncertain.In fact, Marx put forward the value of labor with a critical attitude: the unrestrained development of capitalism led to the degradation of labor trading into labor force trading, and workers sold themselves like slaves, which reflected the naked exploitation of workers by capitalists in early capitalism. However, there are essential differences between workers in modern society and serfs or slaves in early society, and the wage level in the real world is also much higher than the value of the basic necessities needed for the production and reproduction of labor force. What’s more, when the labor force is commercialized, it is endowed with the nature of ’capital’. However, Marx economists are just generally against adopting the concept of ’human capital’, because it essentially equates people with machinery and equipment.Finally, the labor theory of value cannot reveal a wide range of social exploitation, because it fails to effectively explain the rise of wage level, as well as the different degrees of exploitation suffered by each worker. However, based on the status of contracting party and the content of contractual right, we can deeply reveal the fundamental and widening differences between labor trading and labor force trading. Furthermore, by introducing interpersonal heterogeneity and its power inequality, we can have a deeper insight into the capitalist labor relations and their exploitation.