Mary:
To answer these questions I need to understand where you are coming from.
To clarify your points in my mind I have taken the liberty distilling them
into what I think them to be (please, please make corrections, Glove!)
1) Pirsig defined the intellectual level as an abstraction of socPoVs.
Glove:
this i am unsure about. i know Jonathan did and Pirsig may have to. i will
look into this deeper.
Mary:
2) The intellectual level is responsible for recognizing quality events when
it sees them.
Glove:
The intellect seems to conceive of the Quality Event is the way i put it.
i would say "recognition" as you seem to speak of it occurs at the social
level rather than the intellect. see my recent email to Walter.
Mary:
3) This ability to recognize quality events is called awareness.
Glove:
i would rather say that Quality is awareness. i dont think we can define
awareness in any other terms but a Quality Event. and this would include the
whole of the Metaphysics of Quality, all four levels plus undefinable
Dynamic Quality.
Mary:
4) Thus the intellectual level IS awareness of quality events.
Glove:
in the Metaphysics of Quality the intellect level is only PART of the
awareness of Quality Events. just what part is what we are attempting to
determine here. because the intellect conceives the Quality Event doesnt
necessarily lead to the conclusion that it IS the Quality Event. the Quality
Event is much more, in my opinion.
Mary:
I think it's too restrictive to say that the intellectual level is
responsible for recognizing quality events. All static levels latch onto
quality events that are supportive of that level. There's no intellect at
all involved in the inorganic level, yet Pirsig made a good case for
explaining how the inorganic level latched on to quality events and latched
them for purposes of its own enhancement and stability. If intellect is
defined as awareness of quality events, then by implication intellect must
exist at every level. But if you go down that road you are veering
dangerously close to defining the universe again in subject/object terms.
Glove:
by my comments, you see i avoid saying that the intellect "does" anything
other than perceive in general terms and allow the social level to funnel
those perceptions into restraints called static latches. each level has its
own moral values in the Metaphysics of Quality and one of the values the
intellect possesses is a drive to Dynamic freedom, away from the restrictive
social level patterns of value. this is where "forces of value" come into
the equation.
i make no attempt to assign intellect to any other level, yet at the same
time i do not think we can discount it either. just as we cannot discount
instinct as intellect level behavior because birds and bees do not sit
around and philosophize about Quality.
i am not sure what this does to the rest of your argument but i fear you may
have to revise it drastically.
best wishes
glove
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