Science, Value, Historicity. Considerations About The Science of Value by Michael Heinrich

The article examines Heinrich's analysis of Marx's critique of political economy, particularly focusing on the interplay between scientific revolution and classical tradition. While Marx initiates a scientific break from classical political economy, his exposition remains ambivalently tethered to it. Heinrich identifies key theoretical elements of classical political economy – individualism, anthropologism, and empiricism – that shape its discourse. Following Heinrich’s interpretation, it is possible to define the characteristics that give Marx’s critique of political economy its scientific status, specifically: anti-empiricism, anti-anthropologism, and anti-historicism. These characteristics enable Marx’s critique to establish a radically alternative scientific paradigm compared to that of classical political economy and neo-classical economics. The article further explores the conceptualization of social relations as the new theoretical object, which cannot be merely observed empirically but requires a sophisticated abstraction that transcends empirical methodologies. The discussion culminates in an analysis of value as a social relation, contrasting it with classical views that treat value as an inherent quality of commodities. This nuanced perspective underscores the necessity for a theoretical framework that captures the social dimensions of labor and value, thereby advancing our understanding of modern economic structures.