▁— ▁but ▁he ▁regarded ▁the ▁assumption ▁as ▁helpful , ▁in ▁explaining ▁the ▁basic ▁laws ▁of ▁motion ▁[ B ew eg ungs ges et ze ] ▁of ▁the ▁capital ist ▁mode ▁of ▁production ▁" in ▁its ▁ideal ▁average ". ▁ ▁F ormal ization ▁While ▁Marx ▁used ▁the ▁concept ▁of ▁the ▁law ▁of ▁value ▁in ▁his ▁works ▁Grund ris se , ▁A ▁Cont ribution ▁to ▁the ▁Crit ique ▁of ▁Political ▁Econom y , ▁The ories ▁of ▁Sur plus ▁Value ▁and ▁Das ▁Kap ital , ▁he ▁did ▁not ▁explicitly ▁formal ise ▁its ▁full ▁meaning ▁in ▁a ▁mathematical ▁sense , ▁and ▁therefore ▁how ▁it ▁should ▁be ▁exactly ▁defined ▁remains ▁to ▁some ▁extent ▁a ▁controvers ial ▁topic ▁in ▁Marx ian ▁econom ics . ▁D ifferent ▁econom ists ▁dispute ▁how ▁the ▁proportional ity ▁between ▁exchange - value ▁and ▁labour - time ▁should ▁be ▁mathemat ically ▁understood ▁or ▁mode led , ▁and ▁about ▁the ▁measures ▁which ▁are ▁relevant . ▁ ▁Under lying ▁this ▁debate ▁are ▁difficult ▁concept ual ▁questions ▁about ▁how ▁the ▁caus al ▁relationships ▁in ▁the ▁economy ▁between ▁price ▁relativ ities ▁and ▁time ▁worked ▁should ▁be ▁understood . ▁Marx ' s ▁analysis ▁of ▁value ▁was ▁dialect ical , ▁in ▁the ▁sense ▁that ▁he ▁thought ▁value ▁phen omena ▁could ▁only ▁be ▁understood ▁dynamically , ▁hol ist ically ▁and ▁relation ally , ▁but ▁he ▁did ▁not ▁spell ▁out ▁all ▁the ▁concept ual , ▁quant itative ▁and ▁logical ▁imp lications ▁of ▁his ▁position ▁with ▁great ▁exact itude . ▁The ▁scholar ly ▁debate ▁about ▁those ▁imp lications ▁continues ▁even ▁today . ▁ ▁Basic