HI dmb, all,
> From the NY Times interview: > "To the extent that you perceive dynamic quality, you make your own life," > Mr. Pirsig suggested, "and to the extent you cling to static quality, you are > the victim of fate. But dynamic quality is disruptive and I have been moved > increasingly to appreciate the merits of the static. I'm becoming less > radical, coming round to old institutions and finding within them tremendous > dynamic value. The key is to see the dynamic within the static." > > From Lila: > "To the extent that one's behavior is controlled by static patterns of > quality it is without choice. But to the extent that one follows Dynamic > Quality, which is undefinable, one's behavior is free." > > > dmb says: > If Pirsig can reject the Cartesian self or SOM's self and STILL say that > one's behavior is free to some extent, then why can't we? Steve: Sure, one can _say_ it, but is it true, and what does it even mean to say so? I noticed that quote too when I read the NY Times article, and I was struck by the fact that he doesn't talk about choice but rather perception. dmb: I mean, don't the Pirsig quotes prove that the question of free will can be answered without committing yourself to the metaphysical framework we've already rejected? The question of freedom is still a question about you and your life, don't you think? Steve: Well now you slipped free _will_ into this picture where Pirsig talked behavior and perception rather than _will_ being free. I can't make much of his claim "To the extent that you perceive dynamic quality, you make your own life." To what extent _do_ we perceive dynamic quality? How could we behave so as to perceive more or less of it? If dynamic quality is the leading edge of experience, how does anyone _not_ perceive it? Why does he see perception rather than will as the key to human freedom where most philosophers of the past have been concerned with a particular sort of the capacity to choose? Unfortunately, rather than shed light one the matter, for me this quote just muddles things further. 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
