Doug Renselle (renselle@on-net.net)
Mon, 17 Nov 1997 16:53:07 +0100
Hi Diana and The Lila Squad (TLS),
Diana, nice work on the definitions. I have a few comments on the
definitions below. Especially see my comments on the question "Does
Lila have Quality?"
Diana McPartlin wrote:
>
> Hi again,
>
> I've been through all the replies to this post and tried to put the
> answers together. I also decided to sort out the more fundamental
> questions from more speculative questions (like why did Pirsig write
> Lila) as I think we should deal with the basics first. Then, when I
> was
> doing that I couldn't help coming up with my own answers so I figured
> I
> might as well put them in.
>
> I've put up my revised list of FAQ questions on this page
> http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/4670/faq.html
> but I haven't linked this page to the rest of the site so people
> outside
> the LS won't be able to read it.
>
> So here's another bunch of questions. The answers below are my
> suggestions only. I would appreciate everyone's feedback and I'll
> revise
> the online version accordingly.
>
> Diana
>
> --
>
> What is a metaphysics?
>
> A metaphysics is a theory that explains the fundamental nature and
> structure of reality.
>
Diana, could we put the partial tree of philosophy here?
Higher level is - Philosophy
Below it is - ...Ethics_Logic_Metaphysics_Aesthetics_Epistemology...
Next under Metaphysics - ...Cosmology_Ontology_Philosophical Theology...
Next under Ontology -
...Western ISMs_Idealism_Materialism_Dualism_Eastern ISMs...
The elipses show that the levels are extensible, incomplete.
I have the tree drawn, but we have an edict of no attached files.
Doug Renselle.> What is Quality?
>
> Quality is moral value. It may also be described as goodness or
> right-ness. Quality may also be understood as experience, the pure
> direct experience of "now".
>
> What is the Metaphysics of Quality?
>
> The Metaphysics of Quality is a theory that says that the fundamental
> nature of reality is that it is moral value (also refered to as
> Quality,
> goodness, experience etc). This value is divided first into dynamic
> and
> static patterns of value. The static patterns are further divided into
> four levels of value -- inorganic, biological, social and
> intellectual.
>
> What is dynamic quality?
>
> Dynamic quality is the source of all things, the pre-intellectual
> cutting edge of reality. It is recognized as freedom, newness, beauty,
> change, wonder, the unexpected, any phenomenon that transcends the run
> of everyday experience.
>
> What is static quality?
>
> Static quality is what gives order to the world. It provides a latch
> for
> the advances made by dynamic quality. It is recognized as routine,
> structure, normality, organization, conformity, the expected,
> stability,
> any pheonomenon that shows resistance to change.
>
> What is inorganic quality?
>
> Inorganic quality is what is usually understood as matter.
>
> What is biological quality?
>
> Biological quality is life and that which propagates life.
>
> What is social quality?
>
> Social quality is any phenomenon that propagates social order - laws,
> institutions, manners, classes, castes, religion, fashions and so on.
>
> What is intellectual quality?
>
> Intellectual quality is any phenomenon that propagates subject-object
> thinking - democracy, freedom of speech, mathematics, philosophy and
> so
> on.
>
> How do humans fit into the four levels of Static Quality?
>
> People are cohesions of changing static patterns of value. All living
> humans and all animals and plants are biological value because of the
> very fact that they are alive. A human who has been raised in a
> society
> will also be possessed by social values. These values may be
> recognized
> in the form of beliefs, behavior, speech patterns, customs and so on.
> Humans raised in most modern societies are also possessed by
> intellectual value. This is recognized as an ability to reason.
>
> Why did Pirsig say that Lila had quality?
>
> Lila Blewitt, the subject of Robert M Pirsig's novel LILA, was
> described
> as having high biological quality because she was an attractive,
> voluptuous, and presumably fertile woman. Biologically her body was
> high
> value both for itself and for its implied ability to bring forth more
> life. Lila was also described as having low social quality -- she was
> working class, had no social connections nor standing, and was a
> sometime prostitute. Neither did she have much intellectual quality,
> her
> thought patterns show little rationality or sense. However Lila was
> also
> described as having high dynamic quality. This is because she was a
> person who sought to break free from her static patterns of value.
>
Diana,
In the original list of FAQs, I asked the question a little
differently: "Does Lila have Quality?"
The above question is reworded and evokes a slightly different hue and
and semantic pattern than what I had intended.
My version of the question has the purpose of discovering whether the
reader of Lila really gets it. In a way it is a trick question. Pirsig
first broaches the topic on page 40 of the hard bound Bantam in his
discussion (actually a persecutory inquisition of Phaedrus by Rigel).
Phaedrus' response here is 'Yes,' (Lila has quality.)
Later, on page 138, he says, "...It isn't Lila that has quality; it's
Quality that has Lila. Nothing can have Quality. To have something is
to possess it, and to possess something is to dominate it. Nothing
dominates Quality. If there's domination and possession involved, it's
Quality that dominates and possesses Lila. She's created by it. She's
a cohesion of changing static patterns of this Quality. There isn't any
more to her than that."
The answer to my original question is: Nothing has quality. Lila is IN
quality. Quality has Lila. Quality has all Static Patterns of Value
(SPoVs). All SPoVs are in quality. None of them HAVE (have should be
italicized) quality. The answer to any question of the form: "Does
???? have quality?" is the same in Metaphysics of Quality-land.
(MoQ-land.)
I infer that SPoVs can only experience, fleetingly, Quality via change.
So the meme of interrelationships of SPoVs with/in Quality is paramount
to the intuition of the MoQ (and its duals).
Note this is consistent with the meme of 'It' being in SPoVs and SPoVs
being in 'It' where Quality, especially Dynamic Quality, interpenetrates
SPoVs.
Lila Squad, I hope you agree, this IS one of the key points of the book,
Lila.
Thanks Diana,
Doug Renselle.
> The rest of the questions are here:
>
> http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/4670/faq.html
>
> Diana
>
> --
> post message - mailto:skwok@spark.net.hk
> unsubscribe/queries - mailto:diana@asiantravel.com
> homepage - http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/4670
>
>
-- " But quantum theory has destroyed the idea that only properties located in external physical objects have reality."Robert M. Pirsig, page 14 in his paper "Subjects, Objects, Data and Values," presented at the Einstein Meets Magritte conference, Fall 1995.
-- post message - mailto:skwok@spark.net.hk unsubscribe/queries - mailto:diana@asiantravel.com homepage - http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/4670
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