Hello Matt,
That was exactly what I meant, so that we see Pirsigs books as a method for
arriving
at a particular state of mind ex from Phaedrus
"
Soc. Rhetoric is like medicine.
Phaedr. How so?
Soc. Why, because medicine has to define the nature of the body and rhetoric of
the soul-if we would proceed, not empirically but scientifically, in the one
case to impart health and strength by giving medicine and food in the other to
implant the conviction or virtue which you desire, by the right application of
words and training."
Ron:
rather than a static resource.
ie.
Soc. I cannot help feeling, Phaedrus, that writing is unfortunately like
painting; for the creations of the painter have the attitude of life, and yet
if you ask them a question they preserve a solemn silence. And the same may be
said of speeches. You would imagine that they had intelligence, but if you want
to know anything and put a question to one of them, the speaker always gives
one unvarying answer. And when they have been once written down they are
tumbled about anywhere among those who may or may not understand them, and know
not to whom they should reply, to whom not: and, if they are maltreated or
abused, they have no parent to protect them; and they cannot protect or defend
themselves.
Phaedr. That again is most true.
Soc. Is there not another kind of word or speech far better than this, and
having far greater power-a son of the same family, but lawfully begotten?
Phaedr. Whom do you mean, and what is his origin?
Soc. I mean an intelligent word graven in the soul of the learner, which can
defend itself, and knows when to speak and when to be silent.
Ron:
Socrates illustrates this with the Egyptian parable of Theuth
Soc. At the Egyptian city of Naucratis, there was a famous old god, whose name
was Theuth; the bird which is called the Ibis is sacred to him, and he was the
inventor of many arts, such as arithmetic and calculation and geometry and
astronomy and draughts and dice, but his great discovery was the use of
letters. Now in those days the god Thamus was the king of the whole country of
Egypt; and he dwelt in that great city of Upper Egypt which the Hellenes call
Egyptian Thebes, and the god himself is called by them Ammon. To him came
Theuth and showed his inventions, desiring that the other Egyptians might be
allowed to have the benefit of them; he enumerated them, and Thamus enquired
about their several uses, and praised some of them and censured others, as he
approved or disapproved of them. It would take a long time to repeat all that
Thamus said to Theuth in praise or blame of the various arts. But when they
came to letters, This, said Theuth, will make
the Egyptians wiser and give them better memories; it is a specific both for
the memory and for the wit. Thamus replied: O most ingenious Theuth, the parent
or inventor of an art is not always the best judge of the utility or inutility
of his own inventions to the users of them. And in this instance, you who are
the father of letters, from a paternal love of your own children have been led
to attribute to them a quality which they cannot have; for this discovery of
yours will create forgetfulness in the learners' souls, because they will not
use their memories; they will trust to the external written characters and not
remember of themselves. The specific which you have discovered is an aid not to
memory, but to reminiscence, and you give your disciples not truth, but only
the semblance of truth; they will be hearers of many things and will have
learned nothing; they will appear to be omniscient and will generally know
nothing; they will be tiresome
company, having the show of wisdom without the reality. "
Ron:
Pirsigs Books function as midwives for the births of minds of philosphic
inquirey but they themselves
do not stand for letters of law. How could a "metaphysics of Quality" be
anything but an attitude of
inquirey? his books anything but a method, an art of persuation to take a path
which leads to this
attitude? this Orphic tradition of A self-consuming artifact.
Soc. And when men are deceived and their notions are at variance with
realities, it is clear that the error slips in through resemblances?
Phaedr. Yes, that is the way.
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