Hear hear, Marsha. And add my thanks Ham for attending and reporting. I wish she was a participant in this discuss, as I feel she shares a certain congruence with my own leanings and somebody who might actually be interested in exploring Royce's intersections with Pirsig.
Of course, if that were the case, she'd have to be vociferously opposed by the mainstream... On Mon, Mar 14, 2011 at 1:29 AM, MarshaV <[email protected]> wrote: > > 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 > 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
