Key Arguments

• It is a realm of 'Freedom' because buyers and sellers are determined only by their own free will and contract voluntarily
• It is a realm of 'Equality' because they exchange equivalent for equivalent as simple commodity owners
• It is a realm of 'Property' because each disposes only of what is their own
• It is a realm of 'Bentham' (utilitarianism) because each looks only to their own private advantage, which unintentionally serves the common good

Source Quotes

The secret of profit-making must at last be laid bare. The sphere of circulation or commodity exchange, within whose boundaries the sale and purchase of labour-power goes on, is in fact a very Eden of the innate rights of man. It is the exclusive realm of Freedom, Equality, Property and Bentham.

The sphere of circulation or commodity exchange, within whose boundaries the sale and purchase of labour-power goes on, is in fact a very Eden of the innate rights of man. It is the exclusive realm of Freedom, Equality, Property and Bentham. Freedom, because both buyer and seller of a commodity, let us say of labour-power, are determined only by their own free will.

And Bentham, because each looks only to his own advantage. The only force bringing them together, and putting them into relation with each other, is the selfishness, the gain and the private interest of each. Each pays heed to himself only, and no one worries about the others.

Each pays heed to himself only, and no one worries about the others. And precisely for that reason, either in accordance with the pre-established harmony of things, or under the auspices of an omniscient providence, they all work together to their mutual advantage, for the common weal, and in the common interest. When we leave this sphere of simple circulation or the exchange of commodities, which provides the ‘free-trader vulgaris’ with his views, his concepts and the standard by which he judges the society of capital and wage-labour, a certain change takes place, or so it appears, in the physiognomy of our dramatis personae.

Key Concepts

• The sphere of circulation or commodity exchange, within whose boundaries the sale and purchase of labour-power goes on, is in fact a very Eden of the innate rights of man
• exclusive realm of Freedom, Equality, Property and Bentham
• The only force bringing them together, and putting them into relation with each other, is the selfishness, the gain and the private interest of each
• pre-established harmony of things

Context

Marx describing the surface appearance of the capitalist market, which masks the exploitation inherent in production.