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Not class consciousness, just consciousness || Acharya Prashant, at BITS Pilani, Goa (2022)
Bharat
603 views
1 year ago
Vedanta
Consciousness
Commodity Fetishism
Karl Marx
Use Value
Exchange Value
Labor Theory of Value
Technology
Description

Acharya Prashant addresses a question regarding Karl Marx's concept of commodity fetishism and the distinction between use value and exchange value. He clarifies that spirituality, specifically Vedanta, does not view 'use value' as merely the fulfillment of personal desires. Instead, spiritual use involves being conscious of the totality of an object's existence, including its origins, the labor involved, and its broader impact on the world. He argues that one must be aware of the entire chain of production, such as the mining of materials for mobile phones or the conditions in which clothing is manufactured, rather than just focusing on personal utility.