[Platt] Now maybe Pirsig is all wet. Perhaps there is a scientific basis for social morals as proposed by sociobiologists who claim moral behavior is genetically imprinted in the brain. But if the idea of morality is expanded to include our experience of value (some things are better than others), then morality breaks out of its social context and can 1) help explain phenomena beyond the purview of science and 2) provide a framework for more rational moral decisions.
[Krimel] The problem with this is that it is simply not true that morals and values can not be studied scientifically. All of the social sciences invent and adopt methodologies for doing just that. Pirsig's rants against early 20th century anthropology are not aimed at the concept of studying culture. He complains about a particular methodological orientation toward the study of culture. Much of what flaws Pirsig's views is that he seems to be rehashing the arguments that drove him insane in the early 60's without updating them. His finger often points at moons that have moved on. [Platt] Anyway I think that's what Pirsig was trying to accomplish with the MOQ. That he came up short in convincing readers that reality is based on a moral order is obvious from the discussions on this site. Still, he can take some comfort from being provocative which is no small feat in the field of philosophy after the demise of Derrida-style postmodernism and the consequent elevation of other 20th century philosophers -- James, Heidegger, Dewey, etc. --- who, to me at least, are old news (not to mention boring). [Krimel] I think the best that philosophy can hope for is to add perspective to what we learn from the sciences. Philosophy is at its root the love of wisdom. Science at its best strives to tell us what is, philosophy can help us decide what we ought to do about it. When science ignores philosophy you get atomic weapons and global warming. When philosophy ignores science it becomes irrelevant. [Platt] Whatever. We learn from one another and even have some fun in the process. [Krimel] Indeed. 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/
