Basic Knowledge
Rhetoric and philosophy are fields of study that have a disputed history that dates back thousands of years. Despite this, many of the topics they are engaged in are either complimentary or the same. Thus, Marx’s book demonstrated that researchers in rhetoric and philosophy are involved in a more comprehensive examination of human knowledge, value, and action than researchers in the fields of rhetoric or philosophy itself. Methods, academic sources, and topics often reflect the hybrid and synthetic character of people who engage at the confluence of philosophy and rhetoric, as do the questions they raise (Marx). The relationship between rhetoric and philosophy has long been defined by concerns and occasionally disputes regarding the two disciplines’ extent, status, and interdependence.
The second way the book advanced my theoretical knowledge is the fact that both fields of study deal with speech, yet their goals vary. That is why in philosophy, discourse serves primarily as a vehicle for expressing and testing ideas (Marx). In contrast, in rhetoric, speech serves primarily as a vehicle for the effect of views on the minds of people and groups. Finally, the book showed that philosophy could be used as an instrument of change. For example, his explanation of a commodity’s value may serve as a rhetorical appeal to people to value their labor (Marx 138). Rhetoric and philosophy have interacted in various ways throughout history, depending on the intellectual and cultural contexts of the time.
Metaphors and Argument
The main questions of Marx’s scholarly inquiry are the birth of capitalism and its importance, the relationship between capital and labor, and the role of money. To answer these questions, the philosopher utilizes several metaphors and metaphor patterns. For example, the first metaphor is an exchange value, and he uses it by comparing testimonies to commodities to portray them as money stores. Their worth may be determined by assessing how much they will be used. The other metaphor is the word “intercourse” to mean exchange (Marx 167). There must be money for a transaction to occur, which is what metaphorical intercourse is all about. In intercourse, price serves as a mediator “of the process of circulation of commodities” (Marx 37). As a result of this intercourse, money transforms itself into capital.
The other metaphor employed in the text is a metamorphosis of a commodity. Money is the metamorphosized form of all the other items, the outcome of their universal alienation. For this reason, it is alienable itself without limitation or condition. When money is transformed into a commodity, it is known as a metamorphosis. The philosopher was right when he compared a relation between people and things when he defined the exchange-value. As long as society can use a person, this person will be valued. I think that the metamorphosis of a commodity demonstrates that money is only a means to own a thing, and it is the main way to measure one’s labor.
Relevance
No other literary masterpiece has arguably discussed capitalism fully. Marx’s work crosses borders and subjects, from economics to history, and is a classic. All the concepts covered in this work revolve around capitalism and its social role, an ideological treatise that examines capitalism’s follies from a single perspective. Marx tries to highlight the capitalist system’s exploitation of the working class and to denounce the profit motive via his literature. Working-class people are constantly exploited when a concept like this is put into practice in society. It equips the market with good ideologies and a wide range of ideas to help them in the work market.
As a student, after reading the text, one will understand how the market works. They will also benefit from ideas about the market, thus helping them become viable investors and entrepreneurs. Marx’s theories of capitalism help better comprehend modern market relations since the bourgeoisie class still exists today, and some companies utilize the same principles in their practice. Finally, the book teaches to value one’s labor not by its quantity but by effort a person exerts to produce a commodity. The book is relevant to the communication classroom and the marketplace since it reveals the main principles of interaction and communication between different classes.
Work Cited
Marx, Karl. Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, Vol. 1. Penguin Classics, 1992