When we say that an article possesses value we do not mean that it possesses it in the sense that value would remain with it if the article were taken out of relation to human beings. The utility of a good or its capacity to gratify wants depends, as we know, not only upon the qualities of the article, but also upon the person whose desires are to be gratified. Now value depends upon utility. It depends upon a relation between the article and the person who has the desire for it. It also depends upon the whole supply and not upon the one unit of the good alone.

Value, therefore, is not something purely objective residing in the article, but it is subjective-objective. It depends upon the subjective desire of one or more persons and upon the objective qualities in the good.