(c) Before leaving this discussion of the value theory and the part played by it in Marx’s analysis, I wish to comment briefly upon another of its aspects. The whole idea—which was not Marx’s invention—that there is something behind the prices, an objective or real or true value of which prices are only a ‘form of appearance’20, shows clearly enough the influence of Platonic Idealism with its distinction between a hidden essential or true reality, and an accidental or delusive appearance.
