Hi Ham, In the past you and I have disagreed and I don't agree with everything you say below, but you have made some very interesting points. Some of the freshest stuff I've read on here in a long time. I only have a minute right now, but I wanted you to know that.
Mary - The most important thing you will ever make is a realization. > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:moq_discuss- > [email protected]] On Behalf Of Ham Priday > Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2010 2:20 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [MD] Essentials for target practice > > Dear Marsha -- > > > > Ham > > > > I want you to always have a home on the MD. Your > > contributions are very important to me. I wish I could > > easily translate your 12-point manifesto into MoQ language. > > Thanks for the encouraging sentiment. It's very sweet of you, Marsha. > Although I appreciate the thought, I didn't expect my fundamentals to > be > translatable into MoQ language. Since they represent an alternative > view, I > wanted them to be considered on their own merit, and was curious to > learn > who would accept them on that basis. > > But the longer I dwell in Qualityland, the more I realize that > philosophers -- especially those who are revered as cultural icons -- > are > prone to having their work 'dogmatized' by their acolytes. I've > suggested > before (and I don't mean it to be disparaging) that the MoQ evolved as > a > cultist movement appealing mostly to elitists and liberal arts majors > seeking a New Age replacement for religion and scientific objectivism. > I > think Pirsig envisioned himself as a latter-day Pied Piper who would > lead > the Flower Children out of authoritarian enslavement into a romantic > era of > aesthetic appreciation. > > The novels alone seduce the reader with analogies and metaphors that > preach > collectivism with Quality as its credo. The philosophy fits right into > the > the egalitarian and "greening" movements of recent decades, while > slighting > individualism and free-market capitalism as either "egoistic" or > outworn, > greed-based ideologies dominated by the "social level". Now there's > nothing > wrong in having a liberal persuasion; indeed, it's the prevailing view > of > authors and journalists in our time. It becomes problematic, however, > when > a philosopher weaves his thesis so as to promote his brand of "social > reform". Is the resulting product then a philosophy or a social > polemic? > And, if it's the latter, why does he call it a "metaphysics"? > > The Lila passage you've recently quoted is an example of what I'm > talking > about: > > "While sustaining biological and social patterns > Kill all intellectual patterns. > Kill them completely > And then follow Dynamic Quality > And morality will be served." > > This startling declaration comes at the end of Phaedrus's journey when > he > loses Lila to Rigel, and it paraphrases a Buddhist poem that likens > nirvana > to being "completely dead." He blames his lover's obstinate behavior > on > "the static patterns that were really going to kill her if she didn't > let > go." But if biological and social patterns represented Lila's > depressed > life style, why kill the very patterns that might save her? Without > intellect, Phaedrus himself would never have arrived at the philosophy > he's > espousing. It's a dramatic flourish that sounds profound in a romance > novel, but it undermines the highest quality "static patterns" in > Pirsig's > hierarchy. > > Yet, passages like the above are doggedly sought out and requoted as > gems of > wisdom for the practicing MoQist -- if only they can comprehend the > meaning > of it. That's why novels and poetry are not well suited to > articulating > philosophy. It's also why, after five years, the game of "Pirsig says" > has > lost its appeal to me. > > Kindest regards, > Ham > > 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/md/archives.html 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/md/archives.html
