[Krimel, to Ham, Ron and Marsha]:
So for the three of you life, the universe and everything can be reduced to mental events? Isn't that just a form of radical subjectism; even solipsism?
Not if you understand that objects and events are phenomenal. They represent our intellectual constructs of Value (or what Pirsig calls "pre-intellectual experience"). Now, if you are regard Value as "mental", then everything is subjective and reality is, indeed, a solipsism. But this is not what Pirsig says. Instead, he equates Quality (Value) with Reality as primary to the S/O patterns of experiential existence. These "patterns" are phenomena -- the experienced "forms" of Value that we objectivize as Being.
Existentialists posit Being as primary; Pirsig makes Value primary. As an Essentialist, I agree that Value is primary to existence (i.e., SOM). However, like all existents, Value is derived from an absolute source from which all difference (time, space, identity, change) is derived. My philosophy is founded on a metaphysics of Essence, rather than Quality or Value. But neither the MoQ nor Essentialism can be properly conceived if physical reality is considered primary to Value.
But you already knew this, didn't you, Krimel? Essentially yours, Ham 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/
