3WD,
In a recent post you argued that Pirsig's books, being novels,
should be evaluated differently from normative philosophical works:
3WD:
Pirsig's books are a combination of verifiable facts and
ingenious fiction of one "search" crafted to 'show' or 'point' to
possible paths others might search, what pitfalls might be encountered,
and the insights of that individual's experience. Rather than a
philosophical treasise which 'tell' what one can or should reasonably
think or do. And as such a rigourous application of Western logic
evaluating "Art" as "Science" or novels as philosophical treasises will
probably lead to fatally flawed conclusions with the risk of missing any
potential 'good'.
Pirsig does a lot more than 'point to possible' paths for further inquiry.
In Lila, Pirsig clearly tells us how we should think and what we should
believe. For example, he tells you that cultures are not all morally equal
and they can be graded objectively by his system. He tells you that
morality, quality, and value are synonomous. He tells you that Dynamic
Quality is undefined and real. I could go on and on about things he tells
you that read like gospel. And of course you know all that, Dave. My point
is that Lila is far more than a novel masquerading as a self-help book.
Therefore, I don't see how MOQ defies refutation by Western logic by
claims that it is more art or fiction than metaphysics.
Rather, I see 3WD's argument as just another way to retreat, sidestep, or
minimize mistakes in the MOQ. But it's not the final retreat. Perhaps the
final retreat, with tongue firmly planted in cheek, goes like this:
"MOQ defies refutation by Western logic because MOQ proves that Western
logic is flawed. Then by the new MOQ logic, 'consistency' of thought is
de-emphasized. What's important is 'the good'. So when Pirsig claims 'A'
somewhere in Lila and a couple chapters later claims 'B', and 'A'
contradicts 'B', it's not such a big deal. In fact, if 'A' and 'B' are
both independently good, then both are true. That's because the test of
the true is the good. Consistency is one of those vestiges we still
stubbornly cling to from SOM. It's nice when you can get it, but it's no
longer paramount. Even Godel proved that consistency is a pipe dream, so
why be so anal about it? Consistency is not a noun."
Glenn
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