Yea, I can't resist either, although it's early in the afternoon and I haven't had any drinks.
It certainly is SOMETHING to earn the most advanced degree from one of the top universities in the world. It might not make you a philosopher in Pirsig's sense but it sure is a good start and you'd surely qualify as a top-notch philosophologist. I mean, false modesty in one thing but ridiculous is quite another. On the other hand, Mark's claim is not very easy to believe. I've spent a lot of time listening to people with advanced degrees in philosophy and I just don't hear that kind of quality in Mark's words. The claim seems very strange for almost opposite reasons. [1] I would have thought that anyone would be proud of such an accomplishment and [2] I would have thought the fruits of such a long labor would be pretty obviously be reflected in a high quality of thought and speech. A highly trained mind is almost as obvious as a buff body, you know? It shows. Mark should have the intellectual equivalent of six-pack abs and a tight ass. Don't see it. What can you tell me about your studies, Mark? Was it very different from Pirsig's project, perhaps? Maybe there is a good reason why I can't see you as bringing philosophical expertise to the table? I realize it's a damn rude question and maybe too personal but I really am wondering what's up here. It's hard to imagine how anyone could get through such an ordeal without becoming very lucid and fluent so that you'd be both dazzling and tremendously helpful in a place like this. Don't see it. What's up with that? > Date: Thu, 17 Nov 2011 23:22:58 -0500 > To: [email protected] > From: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [MD] The Hero's journey > > [Mark to Marsha] > I spent 6 years doing do doctorate of philosophy (Ph.D.) work, and was > ordained > by the powers that be at Oxford. I then spent years in internship. Does this > make me a philosopher? Does this make me anything? I think not. > > [Arlo] > Maybe it's late. Maybe its the Bourbon. Maybe I'm going to regret this... > > Why does this not make you anything, Mark? Let's step back and say a degree in > Art History doesn't make you a painter (or dancer, or poet, etc), but it still > makes you something. I mean, if it didn't improve you, then what was the > point? > Have we really hit a point when 'knowledge', however defined, is a 'bad > thing'?? > > Can you think, for example, of a single other 'profession' that actually > champions 'never studied this'?... Do you want a surgeon who says "I never > studied this 'heart' crap, but hey, I have certain beliefs about human nature > an that makes me qualified to do this."?... > > See, this is part of this anti-intellectual agenda I don't understand... yes, > there IS a difference between doing philosophy and reading about philosophy, > between being an expert in Nietzsche and not knowing who Nietzsche was... and > call that philosophy/philosophology, but do we really want to turn that into a > championing of ignorance? Do you think Pirsig really meant by that that we > should become dumber to become more enlightenend?... > > 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
