Horse said to John:
...but when some on this list start complaining about the academic and more
technical side of philosophy and trying to make a bogeyman out of their work I
think it does become a problem. Whatever your views on the academy and how they
'philosophologise' (!) it's still a necessary area where the MoQ needs to be
introduced and maintained and Ant and Dave are doing a fine job. ...Ignorance
may be bliss but only for the ignorant.
dmb says:
Thanks for the encouraging words, Horse and Arlo.
There are some good reasons to complain about "the academy" and
"philosophology" and then there are bad reasons to complain. The biggest,
baddest reason is just ordinary, right-wing anti-intellectualism. That's not
even a reasoned position. It's just an attitude.
Pirsig says the difference between philosophy and philosophology is like the
difference between art and art history. By John's reckoning, Pirsig love art no
matter how bad it is and hates art history no matter how good it is. That's
just silly. There one obvious difference between the two. Without art, there is
no such thing as art history. Without creativity nothing can change and without
stability nothing can last.
It's possible to go without the benefit of formal education and still be a
creative thinker who comes up with some new philosophic vision. But generally,
doing philosophy is no different from being a musician or a mechanic. The more
you do it, the better you get. Practice, practice, practice. Is there any
activity that's NOT like that? In that sense, anti-intellectualism is strangely
opposed to growth, improvement, excellence.
Anyway, Pirsig's work is now officially established in the academic world,
thanks to our own Dr. McWatt and also David Granger's book on Dewey and Pirsig
is basically his doctoral thesis. My thesis will be the second master's,
because a guy named Sneddon already did that. I recently learned that a Ph.D is
NOT required to get published in the academic journals. The only real
requirement? Quality.
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