Platt to Andre: You present a nice capsule summary of SOM philosophy supporting America's free market culture, currently being challenged by an influx of European socialist doctrine. Whether I hold to the static patterns you cite as the basis for American culture is now more or less mute because of the insights of the MOQ. As you know, it gives a new basis for supporting free markets.
Andre: Hi Platt: Can you explain to me how Pirsig, or for that matter the MoQ supports the 'American free market culture' when it is grounded in: 1) the subjective egocentric religious doctrine of Protestantism and the individualistic political doctrine, grounded in Descartes,Malebranche, and Locke's conception of a person as a mental substance, and 2) the laissez-faire economic theory formulated by Adam Smith and Jevons, which rests in turn on Locke,Hume and Bentham.? (I know some cosmetics have been applied to the above theories [ e.g Keynes] but they are still rock solid). I always thought that the MoQ rejected theism and subject/object analises and that it rejected the existence of a value-free scientific/atomistic/amoral rationality upon which the philosophies of point 2 in the above are grounded. Secondly you say: That seems to me to be a rational argument that supports what some might consider old fashioned SOM assumptions. However, while it's good to have a new argument from Mr. Pirsig, those old assumptions have proved their value in individual freedom and standard of living we enjoy today. Andre: How do you reconcile the fact that the philosophies, mentioned above, placed protection of property rights above human rights? This seems to me to be a case of a social PoV (property rights) usurping an Intellectual PoV (human rights). And you know what this means in MoQ terms. Also, what standard of living do Americans enjoy today? I have seen stats quite a while ago now and that did not really encourage me to think that America was an especially special place to live in (apart from the scenery)? Regards Andre 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/
