Hi dmb, dmb: > This is perfectly consistent with the way he describes biological evolution > as a series of "spur of the moment decisions". Since he is using the word > "decision" to describe the choices made by animals in general, talks about > the behavior of atoms in terms of preferences and choices and value and since > he even describes the amoeba's movement away from low quality situation in > contrast to the reasons it might give afterward if it could talk, I think > it's quite clear that Pirsig's notion of freedom and morality cannot rightly > be conceived as anything like the reflective will of a rational deliberator. > It's more like responses become more responsive and responsible as evolution > proceeds, the higher you go on the moral hierarchy. It's not conceptual or > intellectual or static but that's because this response is more immediate and > primary and in the living moment, not because it's unconscious or automatic. > It's about being attuned and aware and sensitive to the pre-reflective aest hetetic charge of the situation, whether it be positive or negative. It's about really Being There in the flux of life in a living, breathing, concrete way.
Steve: It sounds like we are in agreement at this point about the differences between the traditional usage of the term "free will" and how Pirsig uses it. Since you "think it's quite clear that Pirsig's notion of freedom and morality cannot rightly be conceived as anything like the reflective will of a rational deliberator," Pirsig's notion of freedom is not merely the subtraction of the Cartesian self from the picture while maintaining the gist of what is usually meant by "free will." My only quibble then is, why use the term "free will" to describe Pirsig's notion of freedom at all? If it isn't reflective, rational, and deliberate, but rather "about really Being There in the flux of life in a living, breathing, concrete way," then it isn't a matter of will, is it? Or does "will" in your view come in the form of the mystic's training to become more "attuned and aware and sensitive to the pre-reflective aesthetic charge of the situation"? will 1 a. The mental faculty by which one deliberately chooses or decides upon a course of action: championed freedom of will against a doctrine of predetermination. above you said... dmb: It's more like responses become more responsive and responsible as evolution proceeds, the higher you go on the moral hierarchy. Steve: This bit about responsibility sounded like a strange add-on that comes from our other discussion about moral responsibility, but I can't see the logical link between moral responsibility and Pirsig's notion of freedom as you described it above as "[not] anything like the reflective will of a rational deliberator." Best, Steve 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
