Valeur d'usage et signifiant. Notes vers une théorie unifiée.

Abstract

The article explores the parallelism between two founding innovations of contemporary epistemes, that of Marx and that of Saussure, noting the isomorphism between the concepts of "use value" and of "signifier". After a quick examination into the employment of the term "use value" in Marxist tradition, the author focuses on the term, but not as a necessity or as a utility function. Observing the concept of use value in parallel to that of the signifier, questions of the arbitrary, the indivisible and the versatile are put to the test. The author observes that the two concepts designate moments of an activity: links in a chain. Significant chains would have a fundamental role, as repetition automatism, in social reproduction