Greetings,
**********PART 1**********
A major flaw in any metaphysical system is the limitation of
linguistics to express the ideas which are being discussed, no matter what
brand of metaphysics it is, whether it be the classical subject-object
variety, or that new fangled metaphysics of quality. This limitation was
established long ago.
-A comprehended god(Quality) is no god(Quality)-
Dio Chrysostom, Greek Sophist
-The more concrete and positive in speaking about God(Quality), the
lower the level of understanding-
Kierkengaard
-In practice we are all bewitched by words. We confuse them with the
real world, and try to live in the real world as if it were a world of
words-
Alan Watts
-The concept, the label, is perpetually hiding us from the nature of
the real-
Joseph Conrad
-All things in their fundamental nature are not namable or explicable.
They cannot be adequately expressed in any form of language-
Ashraghasa
-He who knows does not speak; he who speaks does not know-
Lao Tzu
-My suspicion is that the universe is not only queerer than we suppose,
but queerer than we can suppose-
J.B.S. Haldane
-We are too weak to discover the truth by reason alone-
St. Augustine
-Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent-
Wittgenstein
-The limits of my language stand as the limits of my world-
Wittgenstein
-Human reasoning is burdened by questions which as prescribed by the
very nature of reason itself, it is not able to ignore, but at the same time
it is also not able to answer-
Kant
-The gods love the obvious and hate the obscure-
The Upanishads
-To understand is almost the exact opposite of existing-
Georges Poulet
-Words, as it is well known, are great foes of reality-
Joseph Conrad
-Human speech is like a cracked kettle on which we tap crude rhythms
for bears to dance to while we long to make music that will melt the stars-
Gustave Faubert
-Whatever a man knows, whatever is not mere rumbling and roaring that
he has heard, can be said in three words-
Kurnberger
-the no-mind not-thinks no-thoughts about no-things-
The Buddha
*****Pirsig himself realized this limitation on language*****
-The Quality that can be defined is not the Absolute Quality-
Zen & Art of M.M. -chapter 20
-It(Quality) cannot be defined-
Zen & Art of M.M. -chapter 20
-Quality is indivisible, undefinable, and unknowable in the since that
there is a knower and a known... Since metaphysics is essentially a kind of
dialectal definition and since Quality is essentially outside definition,
then this means a "Metaphysics of Quality" is a contradiction of terms, a
logical absurdity-
Lila -chapter 5
*****Pirsig's justification to writing a metaphysics of Quality, though, was
amazingly weak*****
-The only person who does not pollute the mystic reality of this world
with fixed metaphysics is a person who hasn't been born... The rest of us
have to settle for something a little less pure. Getting drunk, picking up
bar ladies, and writing metaphysics is a part of life-
Lila -chapter 5
Allow me a slight rewrite to show my problems with this argument
-The only person who does not pollute the physical reality of this
world with excrament is a person who hasn't been born... The rest of us
have to settle for something a little less pure. Getting drunk, picking up
bar ladies, and creating excessive amounts of waste is a part of life-
Personally, I would not stand for it if AMCE chemical company used this
excuse for physical pollution, nor will I stand for Pirsig's reasoning. Zen
and the Art of M.M. was enough, anything else is excessive and pollutive.
**********PART 2**********
Here is the problem...
Language is a tool of society used to convey societal qualities and values,
just as urine and body language is used to convey biological qualities and
values. Without a language of some form; either speech, writing, sign
language, Morse code, a society could not exist because only language is
complex enough to adequately convey such social concepts as government, law,
economics/trade, customs, ect... This wonder of language is so important
that we even taught ourselves to think words and language. Don't be fooled,
though: Language is a social tool for communication and should be treated
as such. It is no better then conveying intellectual qualities than
smelling a Germans urine will tell you about the entirety of their social
qualities. Language will only give you a shrouded glance of the
intellectual qualities being presented. Words are just not suited to the
challenge. Perhaps someday in the future, if the intellect wins it's
ongoing fight with society, Dynamic Quality will provide us with some new
form of communication to work with intellectual Qualities, or maybe it
already has, I don't know, but the Metaphysics of quality, which is still a
logical absurdity, states that if language is a societal tool, then it would
be immoral to try to express the intellectual qualities with a lower form of
evolution, language.
Don't get caught up in the illusion.
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