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  3. Seventeenth-century philosopher John Locke stated that as much as 99 percent of the value of any useful product can be attribute

Seventeenth-century philosopher John Locke stated that as much as 99 percent of the value of any useful product can be attribute

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问题 Seventeenth-century philosopher John Locke stated that as much as 99 percent of the value of any useful product can be attributed to "the effects of labor." For Locke’s intellectual heirs it was only a short step to the "labor theory of value," whose formulators held that 100 percent of the value of any product is generated by labor (the human work needed to produce goods) and that therefore the employer who appropriates any part of the product’s value as profit is practicing theft.
Although human effort is required to produce goods for the consumer market, effort is also invested in making capital goods (tools, machines, etc.), which are used to facilitate the production of consumer goods. In modern economies about one-third of the total output of consumer goods is attributable to the use of capital goods. Approximately two-thirds of the income derived from this total output is paid out to workers as wages and salaries, the remaining third serving as compensation to the owners of the capital goods. Moreover, part of this remaining third is received by workers who are shareholders, pension beneficiaries, and the like. The labor theory of value systematically disregards the productive contribution of capital goods—a failing for which Locke must bear part of the blame.
Which of the following statements, if true, would most effectively counter the author’s criticism of Locke at the end of the passage?
选项 A、Locke was unfamiliar with the labor theory of value as it was formulated by his intellectual heirs.
B、In Locke’s day, there was no possibility of ordinary workers becoming shareholders or pension beneficiaries.
C、During Locke’s lifetime, capital goods did not make a significant productive contribution to the economy.
D、The precise statistical calculation of the productive contributions of labor and capital goods is not possible without computers.
E、The terms "capital goods" and "consumer goods" were coined by modern economists and do not appear in Locke’s writings.
答案C
解析 Application
The question asks us to identify the most effective counter to the criticism of Locke that he is at least somewhat responsible for the fact, according to the author of the passage, that the labor theory of value "systematically disregards" the contribution of capital goods to production.
A The criticism of Locke in question has to do with his supposed responsibility for a supposed flaw in a certain theory, presumably because of his influence on later theorizers. That Locke was "unfamiliar" with this theory, which did not exist at the time of Locke, does not significantly mitigate Locke’s (supposed) responsibility for the (supposed) flaw in the theory.
B Once we see what the criticism of Locke is, to do with a claim that he is responsible for a "systematic disregard" of a certain theory of the productive contribution of capital goods, we can see that this option is irrelevant.
C Correct. Whatever the flaws in Locke’s theories, it would seem wrong to hold him responsible for "neglecting" something— capital goods in this case—that was not a significant factor in his day. Given the fact (assuming that it is a fact) that capital goods were not a significant factor when Locke was alive, the responsibility for neglecting them (assuming that they have been neglected by economic theorists) may seem to rest with those who have neglected them after they have become a significant factor.
D The precision of the calculation of the productive contributions of labor and capital goods—to the degree for which a computer would be necessary—is not a factor anywhere in the passage, and it would not be relevant to the criticism of Locke.
E That certain terms are used today that were not used in the past does not indicate that there were not other terms that were used to refer to the same thing. And the mere fact of the word we happen to use to refer to capital goods is not relevant to the critic ism of Locke.
The correct answer is C.
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