Krimel said:In a previous post I spoke of Kant's apriori as "formatting". I think this term bears closer examination. In Lila Pirsig best expression of the concept if not the term itself is here: "Certainly the novel cannot exist in the computer without a parallel pattern of voltages to support it. But that does not mean that the novel is an expression or property of those voltages. It doesn't have to exist in any electronic circuits at all. It can also reside in magnetic domains on a disk or a drum or a tape, but again it is not composed of magnetic domains nor is it possessed by them..."
dmb says:I don't the Pirsig quote has anything to do with Kant. I think your interpretation of it turns the actual point on it's head. Pirsig is explaining the relationship between the levels of static quality. In the same way that the novel is NOT a property of voltages in the computer, ideas are NOT a property of brains. This is a denial of reductionism. But you've construed as just that. As Kant saw it the categories of the mind shape the sense data the way a pasta machine shapes the dough into various kinds of noodles. What Kant didn't see was that these categories are NOT inherent. They are products of culture and language. The biological level, including the brain and sense organs, play a role in determining the shape of our understanding but in the MOQ categories like time and space are derived from culture, not physiology. We can see this most clearly, I think, in Pirsig's correction of Descartes. His famous claim should be altered to say French language and culture exists, therefore I think, therefore I am. _________________________________________________________________ Windows Live™ Hotmail®: Chat. Store. Share. Do more with mail. http://windowslive.com/howitworks?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_t1_hm_justgotbetter_howitworks_012009 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/
