Re: MD Pirsig's letter - A response

From: Peter Lennox (peter@lennox01.freeserve.co.uk)
Date: Sat Nov 04 2000 - 00:05:23 GMT


Hi,
In what way are the concepts of 'price' and 'value' related, and, if not 'one-to-one' then they are not in any sense equivalent.
so, money is almost wholly about price (with the intrinsic overtones of blackmail), whilst 'value' is something else.... which, apparently, money can't (always) buy, - that is, value is something which may be percieved, may be given, or may just exist (according to Pirsig), but may not actually be 'demanded', enforced, etc.
So, if you value the concept of money, then almost any currency has some (apparently)intrinsic interest attached to it, whilst if you don't, then no money has intrinsic value that you can perceive.
This seems to be a thing that you can't really explain to a businessman OR a naive 'primitive'. However, the latter is likely to have grasp of 'trade', whilst the former may well be able to survive without any notion of 'trade-free' value.
so, it turns out, 'value' is in someway more ephemeral than 'price'; but does that in any way imply that less ephemeral is less 'real', or (reciprocally) that more 'concrete' is more 'value'-able?

50 martian Spex to the contestant who can guess which side of the fence I'm on.... but it's probably the same side that most philosophers (even sophists) are on; so who are we to comment on money / price/ value relationships?
cheers
ppl
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Ascmjk@aol.com
  To: moq_discuss@moq.org
  Sent: 03 November 2000 22:50
  Subject: Re: MD Pirsig's letter - A response

  In a message dated 11/3/00 3:33:54 PM Central Standard Time,
  DGlover@centurytel.net writes:

    How is it we assign value to items like money? It's easy to experience
    value if one accidentally sits upon a hot stove and it's easy to
    experience value if someone gives you change for a five dollar bill when
    you gave them a twenty. And likewise a stack of money is a stack of
    money only as long as there is a monetary value backing it up just as
    the hot stove is hot only as long as we continue to add some fuel to
    keep it burning.

  Hi All

  I have mentioned the importance of using the example of money in regard to
  the MOQ many times, as you can see from glancing at some of my previous
  posts. I found RP's letter somewhat personally gratifying for this reason.

  Jon

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