> PLATT:
> > > So I ask
> > > specifically of you gentlemen the same question
I posed in a
previous
> > > post today: "Is Pirsig a creationist?"
ME: My interpretation of Pirsig's position as regards
to Creationism/Evolution was that he was in support of
evolution, but disagreed with the idea of evolution
having no purpose. He disagrees with this because,
traditionally, evolutionists assume that the purpose
had to be a mechanistic one. Pirsig claims evolution
is teleological, but he doesn't come up with a the
kind of purpose that has been traditionally thought of
as mechanistic. He says the purpose is to break free
from mechanisms. This process is a dynamic, not
mechanistic one. So basically, to me, Pirsig is a
teleological evolutionist, but only if one can break
out of the traditional view of a what a purpose is
supposed to be and allow your definition of "purpose"
to include a more fluid, nonmechanistic one like
Dynamic Quality. Pirsig's ambiguity about whether or
not he is a creationist or an evolutionist lies in
this statement on page 166 of the paperback edition,
"There is no quarrel whatsoever between the
Metaphysics of Quality and the Darwinian theory of
evolution. Neither is there a quarrel between the
Metaphysics of Quality and the 'teleological' theories
which insist that life has some purpose." I believe
what he meant here was that there is no quarrel
between the MOQ and "teleological" theories because
they both say that life has a purpose. What he leaves
out is the fact that the purpose he proposes can be
far different from the purposes that are usually
proposed by most traditional teleological theories.
Now he may claim that the purpose is the same because
some teological theories state that "all life is
evolving towards perfection, a synonym for Quality,"
(p. 163) but the purpose actually isn't, given the
traditional veiws of what "perfect" is. Only to an
MOQite (or whatever a person who utilizes the MOQ is
supposed to be called) is perfection synonymous with
quality. So is Pirsig a creationist? No. Then, is
Pirsig an teleological evolutionist? Yes, because he
believes life has a purpose, maybe not a traditional
one, but a purpose none the less. And personally,
when one considers life as a "migration of static
patterns towards Dynamic Quality," it adds an element
of beauty and grace that no mechanistic goal could
possible compare to.
Thank you for your time,
Adam
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