Marsha quoted from Dr. McWatt's textbook, "An Introduction to Robert Pirsig's Metaphysics of Quality": >From 5.8.0. Differences Between the MOQ and Eastern Philosophy:
"Despite keeping within Eastern understanding (by using Dynamic Quality) to incorporate the theory of evolution, Pirsig discards any notion of reincarnation or rebirth in the MOQ. This is probably due to his avoidance of supernatural explanations wherever possible. "For scientists, the mind of the Buddha and the Mind of God are usually the same, even though the Buddha was an atheist. I think it is extremely important to emphasize that the MOQ is pure empiricism. There is nothing supernatural in it." (Pirsig, 2000e) Instead of trying to achieve a better situation in your next life, the primary moral imperative in Pirsig's system is the effect your behavior will have on your descendants. This is probably the widest departure of the MOQ from the Indo-Chinese tradition." dmb says:Thanks, Marsha & Ant. If I'm reading this right, making the switch from re-incarnation to one's descendants removes supernaturalism from the picture but retains a moral stance about future lives. The moral imperative is still directed beyond the present but it remains earthbound. Putting this moral stance within the context of the theory of evolution, I think, alters the way we think about the nature of that process. The aim isn't just a matter of continued survival but a matter of assuming some responsibility for ensuring a better future. There is a dimension of betterness that is uniquely Pirsigian, I think, but most Pragmatist emphasize this idea. "MELIORISM: noun, Philosophy, the belief that the world can be made better by human effort, from Latin, melior = 'better' + ISM." There are several commonly known phrases that suggest we're not very moral in this respect; "global warming", "peak oil", "nuclear war", "second-coming" and "strip malls". I mean, this moral stance is not about the fate of your own soul or even the well-being of your own great, great, great, great, great, grandchildren. This is an unselfish imperative, no? Do unto your descendants seven generations from now as you would have your ancestors from seven generations ago do unto you. Okay, that's a pretty clumsy sentence but you get the picture. _________________________________________________________________ Insert movie times and more without leaving Hotmail®. http://windowslive.com/Tutorial/Hotmail/QuickAdd?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_HM_Tutorial_QuickAdd1_052009 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/
