Hi Sam:
SAM:
> This may or may not be germane to the question of Pirsig's posited
> hypocrisy, but in point of fact, the MoQ itself does not require
> vegetarianism. In this instance RMP is making a tacit assumption about the
> viability of human life on a vegetarian diet; if that assumption is altered
> (ie by making the assumption that meat is necessary for human flourishing)
> then the MoQ comes down equally clearly on the side of non-vegetarianism.
>
> I write this as someone who was vegetarian for ten years, but who now isn't,
> on the grounds that whilst it is possible to survive on a meat-free diet, it
> is not (IMHO) possible to thrive.
Perhaps you're right about what RMP really means. But here is the
relevant quote from Chp. 13 of Lila:
"Is it immoral, as the Hindus and Buddhists claim, to eat the flesh of
animals? Our current morality would say it's immoral only if you're a
Hindu or Buddhist. Otherwise it's okay, since morality is nothing more
than a social convention.
"An evolutionary morality, on the other hand, would say it's scientifically
immoral for everyone because animals are at a higher level of
evolution, that is, more Dynamic, than are grains and fruits and
vegetables."
Here "evolutionary morality" is a synonym for the MOQ which Pirsig
compares to our "current morality." Further, Pirsig claims that the MOQ
provides scientific determination of what is moral and what isn't. So
assuming that words mean things, and that Pirsig means what he
says, I see no way to avoid the conclusion that according to the MOQ,
eating meat is "scientifically" immoral.
Neither you nor I nor most of Western civilization can accept that moral
precept, throwing the metaphysics of "evolutionary morality"-- that
Pirsig invented and delineated -- into question.
Platt
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