According to Nussbaum (discussing Marx), the objectification of workers in a capitalist society exhibits instrumentality.

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The prompt asks us to assess a statement about Nussbaum's discussion of Marx regarding the objectification of workers in a capitalist society exhibiting instrumentality.
Option 1: True. This choice aligns with the idea that in Marxian analysis, workers can be treated as mere means to the ends of capital—reduced to instruments of production rather than ends in themselves. When Nussbaum engages with Marx, she discusses how capitalism instrumentalizes labor, turning workers into cogs within a system of exploitation, which is a classic example of objectification and instrumentality in moral and political philosophy. This reading emphasizes that workers are valued primarily for their productive capacity rather than their intrinsic human qualities, leading to alienation and commodification.
Option 2: False. This claim would challenge the view that capitalism inherently treats workers as instrumental means. If one argues this is false, they would need to provide a reading in which workers retain agency, intrinsic value, or are not simply instrumental to capital but are ends in themselves within the Marxist framework or within Nussbaum’s interpretation. However, such a stance contradicts the conventional Marxian critique of capitalism where labor is commodified, and workers are objectified as means to economic ends, making the false position less consistent with the standard interpretation of the Marxian critique in this context.
Additional considerations: When evaluating objectification and instrumentality, it helps to recall that instrumentality refers to treating a person as a tool for achieving an outcome, disregarding their own goals or dignity. In capitalist arrangements described by Marx, workers’ lives, time, and bodies are often subordinated to profit, which is precisely the mechanism of objectification. If one claims otherwise, they would need to demonstrate how workers are protected from instrumental treatment within the system, or how the theoretical framework distinguishes between legitimate use of labor and dehumanizing exploitation, which would be atypical in this analytic setup.
In summary, the strongest alignment with the standard reading is that the objectification of workers in capitalism exhibits instrumentality, since workers are treated primarily as producers and commodities rather than as ends in themselves. The alternative insists on a reading where this instrumental treatment does not occur, which would require substantial reinterpretation of Marxian critique as presented by Nussbaum, and would conflict with widely discussed themes of alienation and commodification.

PHI 007Y A01 WQ 2025 Final Exam

According to Nussbaum (discussing Marx), the objectification of workers in a capitalist society exhibits instrumentality.

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