From: Matt Kundert (pirsigaffliction@hotmail.com)
Date: Sun May 29 2005 - 03:22:36 BST
Mark said:
The experience of Dynamic Quality is the same for everyone, it is only the
experiences and objects which are mentally associated with the experience
which are different. There is no difference in the liking when the liking is
independent of the things liked. Dynamic Quality is universal. No-one says
that his liking for beans is any different to someone else's liking for
carrots independently of the beans and carrots involved.
Matt:
No one says that their "liking" for beans is any different than someone
else's "liking" for carrots, independently of the beans and carrots, because
it would be an absurd thing to say. Who cares if "liking" and "valuing" is
the same for everyone? That's the most trivial thing you could possibly
say. If that's all the "universality of Dynamic Quality" amounts to, then
it pretty much amounts to the fact that we all use the words "liking" and
"valuing" and their synonyms in the same way. Because the only way we could
know if we were all experiencing the same thing, yet independent of the
experience itself (boy, that doesn't sound very Pirsigian, does it?), would
be to say, "Hey, I like beans!" "Oh my god, I like carrots!" "Really?
Hmm. Well, we both seem to enjoy these separate experiences in basically
the same way. The lowest common denominator of our experiences must be
'liking.'"
The point is that nothing much (let alone anything philosophically
interesting) follows from the fact that we all "value," that we all
experience some things as better than others. If we take Pirsig as simply
forwarding that thesis, then we've severely hampered Pirsig's philosophical
impact. If anything, Pirsig pointing out the obvious, innocuous fact that
we all value some things over others is simply a softening up move to shake
a few dunder heads out of their sleep. I stress "a few." The really
interesting things happen after that in an argument that has to be a lot
more subtle and complex than saying, "Hey, don't you like Guinness better
than Bud Light? That's just like me liking Cezanne over Warhol!"
Matt
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