LS Re: Principles--An aside


Hettinger (hettingr@iglou.com)
Fri, 27 Feb 1998 17:18:23 +0100


HI, LS and Mark!

Mark, I hope you're still here. You're the only person I know who teaches Lila.
>From your results, it looks like you have a great class. I'm reposting your
entire letter, because it clarifies MoQ in down-to-earth terms, from a different
perspective than LS has been coming from. There's certainly nothing here to
pick apart. And THAT's an accomplishment.

I do have a question, but I'll save it for the end.

lenchom@uwwvax.uww.edu wrote:

> Diana (and LS),
>
> The definition of DQ/SQ was worked out as a demonstrator, on the
> board with my students (freshman composition) at the spur of the
> moment. Their assignment: "write an expository essay (500 words)
> which shows how some incident, condition, or process is revealingly
> understood as the result of the interplay of Pirsig's 'static'
> and 'dynamic' forces." One purpose was to extend and apply
> Pirsig's terminology; thus, we set about working up a statement
> on DQ/SQ.
>
> You're right, Diana, to point out that these definitions do not
> highlight the core equation DQ+SQ = Total Reality; it is not
> inclusive, but rather defines through exemplars, and is therefore
> incomplete. The moral dimensions of SQ/DQ, not reflected in these
> definitions, were held in abeyance in order to be developed in a
> subsequent paper, where students had to find and incident, process,
> or condition which shows one pattern in conflict with another,
> describe it, relate it to Pirsig's moral system, show how it was
> resolved, and explain the moral evolution that resulted from
> the resolution.
>
> The definitions in the original "aside" were created in the spirit
> of what Pirsig referred to as his first metaphysical phase in
> his pursuit of Quality (ZAMM 189, Morrow ed.)--that "happy, fulfilling,
> creative phase" where there is "no attempt at a rigid, systematic
> definition." The Phase Two activity (systematic definition) which
> the LS is engaged in now is certainly harder.
>
> Diana, you said that the definitions in the aside represented the
> most easily digestable part of Pirsig's program. This was my
> intention, actually--that way we could have something to use as a starting
> point for developing a sensibility that would appreciate the more
> comprehensive significance of Pirsig's metaphysics.
>
> In order to write directly on issues of morality in Pirsig's sense,
> I had my students consider the following description of "What We Are,"
> based upon which we can develop moral vignettes (still in the spirit
> of Phase One).
>
> What We Are
>
> We are a CHEMICAL COMPOUND, a system of rules and principles unique
> unto itself:
>
> We can be heated, cooled, boiled, frozen, dehydrated, and then
> freeze dried; we can be set on fire, exploded, vaporized, turned into
> ash, calcified, and made radioactive. If we are dropped out of an
> airplane, we will fall downward, accelerating until we hit the ground
> with a splat. We can be crushed in a vice. We obey the laws of Physics.
>
> We are a BIOLOGICAL ORGANISM, a system of rules and principles unique
> unto itself:
>
> We eat and breathe, sleep and salivate; we make sweat and snot and
> cough up phlegm; we belch and burp, cry and sneeze; "w202 Banfart and fuck and
> piss and shit and vomit" (LI; we mam); we make babies whichall cover
> us squeeze out of our bodies " all covered with blood and placental
> slime." We are a member of the only extant species (Sapiens) of the
> genus "Homo."
>
> We are a SOCIAL UNIT, a systme of rules and principles unique unto
> itself:
>
> We go to school; we occupy ourselves by gainful employment; we
> might have to register for the draft, fight in wars, lay down our lives;
> we obey the laws of the community, state, and country; we pay taxes;
> and we pay money for all the things we care compelled to acquire (in
> order to keep up): new clothes when old ones are serviceable, chemicals
> to change our natural smells, cosmetics to change our appearance, new
> VCR's, cell phones, radios, TVs, HIFI sets, CDs, computers, video games,
> boats, cares, houses, microwaves, dishwashers, lawnmowers, fences,
> satellite dishes, software, silverware, lazy-boys, waterbeds, candy,
> coffee, read meat, house pets, vactations, books, baseball tickets, etc,
> etc, etc. We are consumers, clients, caregivers; we have family
> obligations and obligations to our friends; we want to be well-liked;
> we are a member of society.
>
> We are a THOUGHT PATTERN, system of rules and principles unique
> unto itself:
>
> We calculate, analyze, and rationalize; we have ideas about
> things; we have a mind and a conscience; we make choices; we think;
> we talk of our "spirit"; we create works of art and conduct scientific
> experiments; we exhibit common sense; we can imagine hell and heaven.
>
> The following moral vignettes illustrate how Pirsig's
> Metaphysics of Quality enables us to evaluate the moral dimensions
> of some representative cases.
>
> Moral Vignettes
>
> I
>
> You are shoved into an oven which is then turned on. You begin to
> get hot, in response to which your body begins to sweat.
>
> DILEMMA: As a chemical system you are inclined to heat up, but as
> a biological organism you work to cool down.
>
> MORAL OUTCOME: Your sweat cools you off, and you do not roast.
>
> II
>
> As you are sitting in class, you find that you are uncomfortably
> flatulent. The classroom is rather small and there are many other
> students listening to the instructor's lecture. You know that if
> you evacuate the gas, yhou will make everyone around you uncomfortable--
> and maybe even angry; you will surely disrupt the class.
>
> DILEMMA: As a biological organism you desire to pass gas, but as a
> social unit you do not wish to disrupt the social setting.
>
> MORAL OUTCOME: At the risk of becoming constipated, you stifle any
> discharge.
>
> III
>
> As you read Lila on a Friday evening after school, learning about
> the sources of behavior, the origin of culture, and the nature of
> morality and reality, you are paid a surprise visit by a group of
> friends who invite you to go out to party with them.
>
> DILEMMA: As a social unit you are inclined to join the group, but
> as a fully engaged pattern of thoughts in the white heat of personal
> discovery, you are compelled to contemplate the root nature of the
> human condition.
>
> MORAL OUTCOME: You decline the invitation and continue your reading.
>
> Hope this isn't too indulgent with "aside" stuff.
>
> Mark Lencho
>
> ZAMM theme (Phase One): "Practice disinterested caring."

"Practice disinterested caring." Now, that's provocative.

Disinterested as in "do random acts of kindness"? Or "love thy enemies, do good
to those who hurt you" ? Or "develop routine habits of being aware of multiple
levels"?

Did you work this one out as a group, too?

Maggie

>
>
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>

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