Duh... On Jan 11, 2010, at 3:17 PM, X Acto wrote: > Holy.. fucking ....shit...Matt is finally out with it... > > about god damned time.... > > > > -Ron > > > > ----- Original Message ---- > From: Matt Kundert <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] > Sent: Mon, January 11, 2010 2:05:16 PM > Subject: Re: [MD] Intellectual and Social > > > Steve said: > I think Matt Kundert would argue that the sort of > metaphysical certainty you are looking for is what drove > Pirsig to insanity and later to developing a new > metaphysics. > > Matt, what do you think? Did Pirsig find some comfortable > resolution in his quest for certainty? > > Matt: > Well, in Pirsig's case, I think chemical imbalances played a > big role in what happened, but yeah, the quest for > certainty drove him off a cliff. > > When you state "his quest," I think we have to answer > yes. From what little appearances we know of Bob > Pirsig's life since the time of ZMM, he's been able to > control the demons that left him in the corner of a > Chicago apartment with cigarettes burning into his > knuckles. I think the most important thing to understand > about Pirsig's philosophy is the personal nature Pirsig > most of the time perceives to be at the heart of the > philosophical enterprise. This is the point at which we > might bring up the James picture of a hallway with > different doors, or an art gallery with a myriad of > paintings. This, of course, makes Pirsig sound like he > only half-meant the Metaphysics of Quality. Emphasizing > the fact that Pirsig thought philosophy was like playing > chess, rather than having a perfect set of chess moves, > suggests to some that the system Pirsig created is > trying to be ignored. The question is: how do we > balance Chapter 26 of Lila, the philosophology chapter > wherein Pirsig tells us how to read philosophy, with > Chapter 12, the levels chapter wherein Pirsig solves a > few philosophical problems with his Metaphysics of > Quality? > > Pirsig attempted to develop a new metaphysics not just > for himself, but for others, too--everybody gets that. The > Metaphysics of Quality wasn't _just_ for Pirsig. However, > the way to balance the self-other equation might be like > this: the Metaphysics of Quality is Pirsig's, but the > insights of the Metaphysics of Quality are for everyone. > > The "comfortable resolution" of a quest can only be > decided by the life lived, because that's ultimately where > philosophy dumps out. I think one of the greatest > passages Pirsig wrote is the gumption chapter in ZMM. > In that chapter, Pirsig brought together philosophical > abstraction with practical living--he showed us how he > thinks his explorations of the "high country of the mind" > dump out into the valleys of life. What he shows is how a > mind can get trapped in certain thought-loops, like the > monkey and the rice. That's what happened to Phaedrus. > _That's_ the problem with the Quest for Certainty. What > Pirsig picked up are techniques for quelling the inferential > machine known as the mind--that's what the art of > meditation specifically helps with. Pirsig perceived (rightly > I think) the modern mind as quickly skipping down a road > that will eventually prove to be self-destructive to both > individual and society. So Pirsig wanted to expand a > different set of roads, to show how we don't need to run > into dilemmas like "where is the value, in the subject or > object?" > > But there are _many_ ways of avoiding certain bad trains > of thought--Pirsig's one occasional fault is that he > sometimes creates the appearance of yelling out alone at > night. But there are a _lot_ of intellectuals who perceive > similiar evils and propose useful techniques and roads of > travel. The one major problem caused by Pirsig's > occasional flirtation with superlative uniqueness, which > we could forgive in a friend, is that it leads to inflexibility > of thought in fellow-travelers. It leads people to perceive > themselves as _not_ fellow-travelers, but rather disciples. > It leads to the thought that edifices of thought generated > by thinkers must be either rejected or accepted > wholecloth, and that disagreement with the master is a > rejection of everything holy. > > Pirsig became comfortable with his quest for certainty > because he eventually learned how to tone down the > personal ramifications for failure. I think he learned that > it isn't a Quest for Certainty that the philosophical > tradition is in search of an answer to, but rather a > personal quest for the kinds of everyday certainties that > we act out of. Phaedrus' quest in ZMM may have begun > as Plato's, but Pirsig's quest in writing it down was the > quest to resolve doubts about the everyday certainties > that are leading to bad things. Phaedrus began with > Doubt about the possibility of Certainty, but Pirsig > finished with specific doubts about particular certainties. > Pirsig eventually became comfortable with the line of > thought he'd written down, and the kinds of life-instincts > it had given him. > > That _others_ may not be comfortable > with his resolution only matters insofar as what is being > pointed to are limitations in the tools and insights he > afforded. Philosophy is autobiographical--we are > commending things we've found useful. What philosophy > is not is a search for an Answer to an antecedantly > posed Question, like from Reality, or some other entity > that's big and powerful enough to be able to pose a > question antecedantly to spatialtemporal people. Only > with the latter understanding of philosophy does it make > sense to "reject the MoQ," or any system. Only if one > assumes that there are universally perspicuous > questions that every philosophy or person must have an > answer to, would one think that the MoQ's success rests > on its ability to please everyone. Only if one thinks > there's a big universal Quest humanity is on, rather than > a lot of little quests individual people are on, will one > take seriously the rhetoric of "demonstration" and > "proving." > > Philosophy is autobiography for Pirsig, and it is best > served by taking it seriously, but not too seriously. > > Matt > > _________________________________________________________________ > Your E-mail and More On-the-Go. 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