Does anybody know what Pirsig thinks of postmodernism?
I had read somewhere in the archives claiming he wasn't a postmodernist and
someone else claiming the opposite.
I got my first taste of metaphysics by postmodernists and never really called
myself a postmodernist (mostly to a naivete to the subject) and now that I
seem to sense a contempt of postmodernism by people interested in metaphysics
I feel myself pondering to favor or not favor postmodernism.
The postmodernists who first caught my ear were a theologian giving the talk
"the story of evolution as an epic of creativity" and an english teacher
giving the talk "reconstructing god". What I learned in these talks seemed
consistent with Pirsig and a lot of what I have heard here.
So at first I was puzzled at this postmodernism contempt so I went and did
some browsing of postmodernism websites.
I saw a clear difference between people viewing deconstruction as an end vs a
means to reconstruction. The first will lead to anarchy and deserves contempt
but the second seems to still have value to me.
To all who cringe at postmodernism I have some questions for you:
Don't you have to deconstruct the old in order to construct the new( that is
aren't destruction and reconstruction two sides of the same coin?)
Another contempt for postmodernism is its relativism. Again some relativists
don't see "all ideas are equal" but a warning to be weary of "absolute
truths" because there is a degree of subjectivity and objectivity in
everything.
I guess what I find valuable about postmodernism is that it seems to help
people to break from old static patterns and also helps someone to develop
sense of uncertainty about reality which seems to me to be consciousness
raising (because if you are not sure what reality is then you will be more
open to new suggestions). As Pirsig says "the pencil is mightier than the pen"
So if anybody can let me know of any of Pirsig's views on postmodernism or why
postmodernism should be "deconstructed" I would be extremely interested.
Thanks,
Erin
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