SQUAD:
How many Unitarians does it take to change a light bulb?
The metaphysics of Quality is a very big thing. For people who are
unfamiliar with the idea, I think its best to begin from a very broad
perspective and then move into the details, like the opening shot of an
epic film. We'll start by looking at the entire landscape from a remote
location in order to understand the MOQ in context.
metaphysics? I guess its safe to say that Aristotle wrote the first
Metaphysical treatise in the 4th century B.C. But its also one of those
words that has worked its way into the popular imagination, as in
"GROOVY SETH'S NEW AGE METAPHYSICAL BOOKSTORE AND AROMA THERAPY CENTER".
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy that examines underlying
theoretical principles. Its concerned with the larger framework that
contains all known phenomenea. There are at least three other branches
of philosophy within metaphysics; cosmology, epistemology and ontology.
Briefly, these branches are concerned with the nature and origins of the
natural universe, the nature of human perception and cognition, and the
nature of being or existence itself.
The Metaphysics of Quality is a very big thing, as is any metaphysical
system. We're talking about a philosophical picture of the entire
cosmos, our place in it and the accuracy of our perceptions of that
reality. Believe it or not, the author of the MOQ makes it all kind of
fun and easy. He only wrote two books and they are both novels. Robert
Pirsig wrote Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance over twenty years
ago and the second book, Lila, was published in 1991.
Zen and the Art is quasi-autobiographical story of a cross-country
motorcycle trip from the upper midwest to the Pacific coast. Along the
way, the author takes us on a philosophical journey on a road that
streaches from the ancient Greeks, through the European Enlightenment
and all the way up to contemporary America. He also weaves in a few
concepts from Zen Buddhism and other Eastern philosophies. Its the best
road trip I've ever been on.
Robert Pirsig takes this survey of the history of Western Philosophy
because he believes that it took a wrong turn somewhere. It was an
attempt to find the source of the problem and it serves the reader as a
primer on the issues of concern. This kind of a road trip may seem
complicated enough to drive a person crazy, and in fact it did. Robert
Pirsig had a mental breakdown in real life as a result of his quest. See
how he makes it all so fun and easy?
I don't want to spoil the ending for you, but they all die in the end.
Just kidding, its not that kind of novel. The problem he finally
identifies is called Subject/Object metaphysics. I'l try to explain
exactly what that means and what Pirsig thinks is the problem with it,
but first a few words about Lila, the second book.
You could say that Zen and the Art identifies and describes the problem
with Subject Object Metaphysics and Lila describes his solution to that
problem. The Metaphysics of Quality is meant to replace SOM, expecially
in those areas where SOM really falls down.
In Lila, instead of motorcycle trip through the high country, we are
taken from the Great Lakes down to the Atlantic ocean on a sail boat.
Lila is subtitled "an inquiry into morals" and the question is this book
revolve around the quality of a former prostitute named Lila. She is
also heavyily medicated and on the brink of insanity. Naturally, the
author meets her in a bar, they get drunk and dance together, then he
takes her aboard his sailboat and has sex with her. The author has sex
with Lila again as they sail down the Hudson toward the ocean.
Oh sure, now you're interested... But this part of the novel really
isn't as much fun as it sounds and none of it is easy to explain to
Rigel, Lila's judgemental Victorian friend. A whole line of questions
arise out of Rigel's warnings and complaints about Lila's promiscuous
and immoral behavior. The central question in the novel becomes "does
Lila have quality? In his attempts to answer the question Pirsig
develops the metaphysics of Quality.
The second book makes fewer references to other philosophies and
philosphers. The author makes a greater attempt to show that the
philosophical questions and problems as they appear in ordinary,
everyday circumstances. And yet the switch from SOM to the MOQ is like a
scientific revolution. It represents a shift in our conception of
reality. Pirsig calls it a Copernican revolution in metaphysics. Of
course, you remember that Copernicus was the Polish astronomer who
disproved the belief that the earth was the center of the universe and
instead proved that Monica Lewinsky is at the center of the cosmos. Just
kidding. ln spite of the apparent complexity, the MOQ really boils down
to one simple claim: reality is composed of Quality. But that's quality
with a capitol "Q".
Now we're ready to talk more specifically about the details of SOM and
MOQ.
How much time is left?
MOQ Online - http://www.moq.org
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