John --
I'm trying to understand your dilemma, if that's the proper term, concerning the relation of the individual to his society. I guess I've never looked at society (or government, for that matter) as a benefactor or 'Giant' in the Pirsigian sense.
You say that the social system depends on individuals, which is a de facto truth. It is also true that the individual, unless he or she is a recluse or adventurer, is dependent on some "concrete" things -- food, water, power, etc. -- that the social system provides. Although few people are totally self-sufficient in today's society, I don't see that fulfilling individual needs through goods and/or services purchased by the rewards of their labor makes the Individual and society a "co-dependent" entity per se.
Nor do I believe, as Andre apparently does, that "There is a moral code that establishes the supremacy of social order over biological life ... [and] moral codes over the social order." In other words, I don't believe in a world that is moral by divine or executive fiat. For, if that were so, there would be no quest for moral virtue, no human need to discriminate between the good, the bad, and the indifferent.
If this is Pirsig's vision of the universe, he is sorely mistaken. It is my belief that we exist in an amoral universe, and that man is granted value sensibility for the specific purpose of realizing and defining Essential Value in relational terms.
Is this where we have an 'SOM' problem, John? Essentially speaking, 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
