Hi MoQ'ers, Several people on here (Arlo, Ant and David M I believe) previously mentioned David Granger's book "Dewey, Pirsig and the Art of Living".
I've recently found time to read it too, and would like to add my recommendation that people take a look. I found it a refreshing comparative discussion of Pirsig in the context of a wide body of philosophy. One aspect I'd not seen debated before is the link from the ideas of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Something I asked David about. He says [QUOTE] I've been surprised, in a way, to see Pirsigians mention Emerson so infrequently. Then again, as you suggest, Emerson's not generally viewed as a philosopher, even in the US (and even given his considerable influence on Neitzsche). Anyway, I think Pirsig is very much a part of the Emersonian tradition (the same is manifestly true of Dewey...and Rorty). Like Pirsig, Emerson was widely read in many branches and traditions of philosophy, though ultimately he wished to develop something new and distinctly American. (BTW: D. T. Suzuki, of the Chicago School of Zen, was an Emerson scholar and clear echos of Emerson can be seen in his writings.) Along with Emerson's essays, you might also enjoy, as a secondary source, Robert Richardson's excellent intellectual biography Emerson: The Mind On Fire. [UNQUOTE] Any one made strong connections with, or have strong views about, Emerson before ? Ian 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/
