Hi Ham Thanks for sharing your impressions. I think it wonderful that a woman is lecturing on the MoQ.
Marsha On Mar 14, 2011, at 1:52 AM, Ham Priday wrote: > John, dmb, Matt, Ian, Mark, and All -- > > First I want to thank three of you for responding to my request for > information on Caryl Johnston -- especially Matt, who provided links to her > blog site and archived responses. Meta-Q is "dedicated to the furtherance of > R. Pirsig's Metaphysics of Quality," and the home page features Caryl's essay > 'In Search of Quality' which has been updated from 2007 and is the best > analysis of Pirsig's philosophy I've read since Anthony McWatt's doctoral > thesis. For anyone who may be interested, this blog is at > www.meta-q.blogspot.com/. > > I had promised to report on the meeting yesterday at which Caryl was guest > speaker on this topic. > > After being treated to lunch at a quaint little 'coffee-house' by our friend > Tranda, Rosalie and I accompanied her for the short walk along Germantown > Ave. to the Chestnut Hill Library, where Tranda led us to a large conference > room at the rear of the building. There we were personally welcomed by Ms. > Johnston, who looked a bit older than the photo on the flyer, and we took our > seats along with some two dozen others, including Lewis DuPont Smith, a board > member of the prestigious Waldorf School of Philadephia. (Smith had given a > lecture on Friedrich Schiller that Tranda attended in February of this year.) > We observed a copy each of ZMM and LILA displayed on the podium, behind > which hung a large screen used for a PowerPoint presentation at the end of > the lecture. > > Caryl began her talk by asking: "Why do we keep doing things that are > supposedly 'reasonable' even when they are no longer working?" "This is one > of the questions Robert Pirsig asked in an extraordinarily popular book that > was printed in 23 languages," she told her audience; "It's about a search for > the Good, a philosophical odyssey to the roots of Western thinking. Pirsig > called it the 'Metaphysics of Quality'." > > The speaker then reviewed the highlights of Pirsig's career -- his early > study of chemistry and shift to philosophy at the University of Minnesota; > his post-graduate studies at a Hindu university in India; his focus on > Quality while teaching a writing course in Montana; his mental breakdown, > shock therapy, and resulting divorce in 1976; the decision to write a > semi-autobographical novel based on a cross-country bike trip with his son > Chris; the carry-over of the name 'Phaedrus' as his alter-ego in a second > book about a boat trip down the Hudson River; the tragic murder of Chris in > 1979; and the author's second marriage and subsequent retirement in the 90s. > > Most of the lecture was a recap of the essay mentioned above, with special > attention given to a list of human activities for each of the four Static > Quality levels which didn't seem to match the author's categories IMO and may > have been improvised. Caryl made a point of the fact that the Sophists' > quest for "Quality" conflicted with the Platonists' dialectical approach to > discover "Truth", although there was some question as to which was the more > "pragmatic" in the Jamesian sense. She also expressed disappointment that, > despite the popularity of ZMM among U.S. baby-boomers, Pirsig's message has > had a more lasting affect on the British public, suggesting that this may be > due to their superior classical education. > > Following the group discussion, I took the opportunity to introduce myself to > Caryl as a participant of the forum that had elicited Matt's comments, which > seemed to pique her interest, as did the promotion card I handed her on my > book. As we exchanged contact information, I asked if she had read the > author's SODV presentation paper, which she had not; so I suggested she do > so. We were invited to join the others for refreshments at a nearby tavern, > but had to decline due to other commitments. It surprised us to learn that > this was her first public appearance as a speaker on philosophy. > > We left the library feeling that Caryl is a far better writer than > philosopher, and that if the purpose of the lecture was to show how > understanding Quality is the key to resolving "our contemporary dilemmas and > divisive social issues" as billed, we are still "in search of" it. > > Respectfully submitted, > 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
