From: skutvik@online.no
Date: Wed Jul 09 2003 - 07:18:04 BST
Hi Platt (primarily)
I'm lagging seriously behind, got this interesting analysis from Paul
among other things.
On 8 July you wrote:
> Hi Sam, Bo, Jonathan,
> Sam
> > So for Pirsig, the criterion of the fourth level isn't
> > "thinking" or even "intellect", it is "the manipulation of symbols,
> > derived from language, which stand for patterns of experience, in
> > the brain").
> Note 95 in Lila's Child has an even simpler explanation by Pirsig of
> intellect. He says, "Intellect is simply thinking, . . .." He goes on
> to say. " . . . and one thinks without involving the subject-object
> relationship." (As far as I know, Bo as yet to answer this objection
> to his idea that the intellectual level is restricted to a
> subject-object thought pattern.)
I HAVE done nothing BUT criticize this "thinking" intellect. ALL my
activity has been about it because it undermine the MOQ as
presented in LILA.
I will only state a few objections here, but maybe they are all caused
by the mixing of intellect and intelligence.
It makes the social level unrecognizable from what it was meant to in
the MOQ. Pre-intellect people become instinct-ruled automatons
"...using only biological instincts and socially copied behavior" (Steve)
The rich cultures of old that Pirsig of LILA refers to as pre-intellectual
no more that ant-hills!!! It's outrageous.
A thinking intellect can't result in the intellectual values Pirsig
mentions in LILA. My best example is an independent juridical
system, but also democracy is a strange offshoot of "manipulations of
symbols".
But Intellect IS thinking in the "subjective thinking as different from
objective reality" sense. It IS manipulation of symbols in the
"manipulation of symbols -derived from language - different from
objective reality". sense.
As you will see I have adopted Sam's formulation with a modification
in the last variant. I will be going away for some days so take your
time.
Bo
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