Kevin Sanchez Wrote:
> how can pirsig claim to write as a legitimate philosopher
> when he fails to review or consider
> martin heidegger's 'being and time'?
>
Kevin, any number similar questions could be asked:
'How could Wittgenstein be a serious philosopher when he never read Plato?'
I dunno. He is a serious Philosopher, and he didn't read Plato, so: NON
ISSUE.
'How could Hume be a serious Philosopher when he never read Heraclitus?'
I dunno. But he is, and he didn't, so: NON ISSUE.
'How come I and numerous others with diverse philosophical interests managed
to pass out of a good university with good degrees in philosophy yet having
read no Heidegger?'
Well, because there's a hell of a lot other stuff to read, that's why. So:
NON QUESTION.
I'd guess the idea that reading all the books there are makes you a serious
philosopher doesn't stand up to the most cursory examination. Most of the
serious philosophers had huge gaps in their reading, mostly because for most
mortals there isn't, as Pirsig points out, enough time to both read
everything and do much of your own thinking. Philosophers and
philosophologists are not the same thing, and Pirsig speaks the mind of my
many a lowly academic, weighed down with marking endless samey student
essays, no time for the research he longs to do, when he points this out.
It is one thing to be the curator of a tradition, and quite another to be a
living part of it. Pirsig should be praised to the rooftops for being the
latter - and I suspect that much of the animus against him from (some)
academics is pure jealousy: how dare he get away with what they always
dreamed of doing?.
Regarding:
> and how can pirsig claim to philosophize
> in an original and creative way,
> considering heidegger accomplished what merely pirsig tried to,
> only earlier, more comprehensively, and downright better?
Well, the explanation for this situation, if you describe it correctly,
would simply be ignorance. So, enlighten us. Fill the gaps in our
knowledge of the father of Existentialism. An answer in exchange for your
questions, if you please. "You know what to do", as I was once so rightly
told.
Elephant.
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