From: Paul Turner (paul@turnerbc.co.uk)
Date: Sun Jun 26 2005 - 22:03:17 BST
Matt, Bo,
--- Paul for one sees a fundamental difference between the SOL
--- interpretation and the standard one (I am tempted to call them
--- strong and weak with reference to Quantum Physics) re. intellect
--- where the the latter sees the S/O as just one pattern. What Pirsig
--- says is a bit unclear. In almost all of LILA he treats it as SOL
Paul: No, Bo, he doesn't. In a fairly central section of LILA, it is
stated that:
"The Metaphysics of Quality resolves the relationship between intellect and
society, subject and object, mind and matter, by embedding all of them in a
larger system of understanding. Objects are inorganic and biological values;
subjects are social and intellectual values. They are not two mysterious
universes that go floating around in some subject-object dream that allows
them no real contact with one another. They have a matter-of-fact
evolutionary relationship."
This doesn't seem to be too unclear to me. And then there is the MOQ
solution to the mind-matter problem, which he concludes by saying:
"The mind-matter paradoxes seem to exist because the connecting links
between these two levels of value patterns have been disregarded. Two terms
are missing: biology and society. Mental patterns do not originate out of
inorganic nature. They originate out of society, which originates out of
biology which originates out of inorganic nature."
This (inorganic level = matter, intellectual level = mind) contradicts SOL
outright, does it not?
However, as I've said to you before, there is nothing gained by anyone
claiming the authority of Pirsig's "real" intentions. There is what we may
call the ostensive MOQ, which is roughly what you would get from ZMM and
LILA if you take into account the later, post-LILA Pirsig as qualifications
of those two books. The SOL is what you can get if you read LILA
selectively, make use of ambiguities, and largely ignore anything Pirsig has
published post-LILA.
I would like to stop arguing over which is the real MOQ and focus the
conversation on the most important question - which is best?
Regards
Paul
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