Hi Steve/Platt I'd add to this the idea that there are inportant differences between organic/inorganic/social/psychological and intellectual patterns.
First, living patterns behaviour whilst full of pattern and order is so varied that it is hardto be predictive or controlling of it. Secondly, trying to predict and control living things poses all kinds of moral problems and questions. Thirdly, same problem with doing experiments on living patterns. Is a science of living things very little like a science of inorganic patterns because of the above, less controlling, less expermental, less predictive, more descriptive? Regards David M > Hi Steve, > > [Platt] >> > Pirsig redefines science as the study of social and intellectual >> > patterns of >> > value? That's news to me. Can you cite a reference? > > [Steve quotes Pirsig] >> "If science is a study of substances and their relationships, then the >> field >> of cultural anthropology is a scientific absurdity. In terms of substance >> there is no such thing as a culture. It has no mass, no energy. No >> scientific laboratory instrument has ever been devised that can >> distinguish >> a culture from a non-culture. >> >> But if science is a study of stable patterns of value, then cultural >> anthropology becomes a supremely scientific field. A culture can be >> defined as a network of social patterns of value." > > [Platt] > Most consider anthropology, like psychology and economics, a science. > So, Pirsig's "If" clause sets up a straw man. Would Pirsig argue that > psychology is a supremely scientific field because it studies stable > patterns of intellectual values? I doubt it. > > Rather than argue for a new science I think Pirsig argues for a new > metaphysics. It's proponents of scientism who consider them one and the > same. > > Of course, we can always adopt new meanings for a word like science. After > all, Pirsig has liberated the word "morals" from human social behavior. > Should we call the MOQ "A Science of Morals?" > > Regards, > Platt > > Moq_Discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/ > Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
