Abstract
This article aims to contribute to the literature on Marx’s systematic-dialectical method
through a critical reading and discussion of the significance and presentational
‘architecture’ of the section on commodity fetishism in the dialectical sequence of
form-determinations in Capital. In order to undertake this task, the paper firstly explores
the content and expositional structure of the first three sections of Chapter 1 of
Capital. This sets the stage for a methodologically-minded close examination of Marx’s
presentation of the fetish character of the commodity, which shows that there is a
precise systematic sequence which gives unity to the flow of his argument within the
section on ‘The Fetishism of the Commodity and its Secret’. The conclusion is that only
through a proper grasp of the dialectical method can the full systematic significance
and implications of Marx’s account of commodity fetishism be uncovered.
Keywords: commodity fetishism – systematic-dialectical method – subjectivity – value-form