Ecology, value, and Marx.

• Author: Rotering, Frank
• Position: Thinking Economically - Essay

The word "value" is a source of much confusion in economic discussions among Greens, for two reasons. First, the term has a variety of meanings, several of which are important within the Green world-view. Second, these meanings have not been clearly articulated, resulting in a Tower of Babel that impairs our progress. This article suggests how Greens might use the term "value" in the economic realm for maximum effectiveness.

Consider the word's various meanings:

* General worth or merit: "I value your friendship."

* Deeply held principles or ideals: the 10 key Green values

* Inherent worth: Deep Ecology's "intrinsic value"

* Monetary worth: the market valuation of a commodity or other asset

* Utility: the consumer's subjective valuation of a commodity

* The basis for prices in a capitalist economy: Marx's exchange-value

The above list does not include the additional meanings that--in my view--the term should have within an economic framework based on the needs of humankind and the limits of nature. In sorting out the existing meanings, the first step is to identify those that are clearly outside the economic realm. This is the case with the first two. These two meanings of the term are obvious from their contexts and can continue to be used without fear of muddling our economic conversations.

In Deep Ecology, "intrinsic value" refers to the ontological equality of human and non-human life, and to the consequent respect we should accord to all living things, irrespective of human ends. The movement accepts two terms as synonyms: "inherent value" and "inherent worth."

I strongly suggest that Greens and the Deep Ecology movement itself adopt the term "inherent worth" for this purpose. "Value" is a central term in economics, and it should be reserved for this sphere. This leaves us with three economic meanings of "value:" monetary worth, utility, and the basis for prices and exchange.

The use of "value" for the monetary worth of an asset is central to today's version of standard economics, which has progressively purged itself of the term's deeper significance over time. For Greens, "monetary value" can be used as an unambiguous term for this narrow but necessary meaning of "value."

Utility is one important area where standard economics and Marxist economics perceive the capitalist world in much the same way. One standard definition of utility is "the benefit or satisfaction that a person obtains from the consumption of a good or service."...