x, I'm not sure I understand your reading of Pirsig/Peirce, but I think one thing that would help in our appreciation of James (and Rorty's appropriation) is reading the full line from which people attribute "truth is whatever works" to James, usually because Rorty I think did write such a shocking sentence as a gloss on pragmatism.
"The true is the name of whatever proves itself to be good in the way of belief, and good, too, for definite, assignable reasons." If we suspend our disbelief at Rorty's audacity, I think it is readily apparent that Rorty is glossing, and accepting fully, James's version, which isn't as unseemly as it might at first appear. The thing we need to see is that what "works" does so, not willy-nilly, but "for definite, assignable reasons." That's where the argument occurs, that's where people have to fight and enter into the community of inquirers that marks the border between flighty opinion and rational knowledge. Definite, assignable reasons. Not _any_ reason will do, but reasons that convince people, reasons that have arguments, evidence, etc., etc. An assertion that "works" is, therefore, not such an easy thing to get. You have to really _work_ for it, like scientific theories: some live, some die--they are worked for to see if they are true. >From little to no understanding of what Peirce, or you, exactly mean by "theory of meaning," I would probably agree that Pirsig's system yields just that--insofar as we agree with Donald Davidson that a theory of meaning is also a theory of truth which are two ways of saying a theory about the way the world works, which is to say whatever suggestions that _work_ about the way the world works--which is to say, whatever ways we find ourselves successfully making our way about the world counts as a theory of meaning. I think saying it's a "theory" sounds a little pretentious (and Platonic), but that's just me. Matt _________________________________________________________________ Search for grocery stores. Find gratitude. Turn a simple search into something more. http://click4thecause.live.com/search/charity/default.aspx?source=hmemtagline_gratitude&FORM=WLMTAG 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.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
