Hi Struan and LS:
Struan, you assert that "the MoQ is compatible with current scientific
thinking" and offer the following as evidence:
> The prevailing scientific view is summed up quite well by A.F Chalmers:
>
> "In relativity theory, interpreted realistically, properties such as mass and volume no longer exist
> but become relations between objects and a reference frame and can be changed without any physical
> interaction."
>
> Or Feyerabend:
>
> "The new conceptual theory . . . does not just deny the existence of classical states of affairs, it
> does not even permit us to formulate statements expressing such states of affairs . . . . the
> positivist scheme of progress with its "Popperian spectacles" breaks down."
Well, try as I might, I don't detect any reference in these quotes, explicit
or implicit, to morality or moral judgment.
Unless your quotees say or suggest somewhere in their writings that “the
world is primarily a moral order," I fail to see how you can conclude that
their views are compatible with the MoQ.
Pirsig is quite clear about the fundamental assumption of the MoQ:
"Because Quality is morality. Make no mistake about it. They're identical.
And if Quality is the primary reality of the world that means morality is
also the primary reality of the world. The world is primarily a moral
order." LILA, last paragraph, Chap. 7.
Perhaps, as you say, the classical subject-object paradigm has been
dumped by "coherent materialism." But if the new materialist paradigm is
to look at properties "in terms of relationships of patterns of value" as you
claim, then your definition of values appears to be numerical values such
as found in mathematical formulas rather than moral values as set forth in
the MoQ.
Can you find any materialist, coherent or otherwise, who subscribes to
Pirsig's assumption that the fundamental nature of reality is moral? I’ve
searched for one myself, but in vain. Perhaps you’ve had better luck.
Platt
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