labour。Twelvehours’labourareexchangedagainst10，6，&tc。，hours’
labour。Thisequalizationofunequalquantitiesnotmerelydoesawaywiththedeterminationofvalue。Suchaself—destructivecontradictioncannotbeinanywayevenenunciatedorformulatedasalaw。[3]
Itisofnoavailtodeducetheexchangeofmorelabouragainstless，fromtheirdifferenceofform，theonebeingrealized，theotherliving。[4]Thisisthemoreabsurdasthevalueofacommodityisdeterminednotbythequantityoflabouractuallyrealizedinit，butbythequantityoflivinglabournecessaryforitsproduction。Acommodityrepresents，say，6working—hours。Ifaninventionismadebywhichitcanbeproducedin3hours，thevalue，evenofthecommodityalreadyproduced，fallsbyhalf。
Itrepresentsnow3hoursofsociallabourinsteadofthe6formerlynecessary。
Itisthequantityoflabourrequiredforitsproduction，nottherealizedformofthatlabour，bywhichtheamountofthevalueofacommodityisdetermined。