Kon'nichi wa Platt!
I think some of these were a bit jumpy as far as reaching the conclusions
you did.
>A. It is immoral to make a movie out of a metaphysics, and
>presumably, any work that is primarily an intellectual pattern of value.
>From this I assume it was immoral to make *The Fountainhead*
>starring Gary Cooper and Patricia Neal.
I agree, it is immoral to make a movie out of a metaphysics, but is it
immoral to make a movie insipired by a metaphysics? Many movies claim to be
"based" on this or that, but in past the plot, don't share many other
similar qualities. A particular test of a kind of talent is the ability to
take someone else's work and make it your own. Many movies do this when they
are "based" on books or other sources.
>B. It is immoral for a society to restrain truth for its own purposes. From
>this I assume all the democrats and their sycophants in the press who
>restrained the truth about Kennedy's sexual escapades acted
>immorally.
Agreed.
>C. It is immoral for children to be dominated by their parents. From this
>I assume disciplining a child is immoral.
Why is disciplining a child a form of domination? And perhaps I missed it in
my reading, but why again is children being dominated by their parents
immoral in the first place?
My definition of discipline would be training expected to produce a specific
characteristic or pattern of behavior. Various methods of discipline might
be immoral, but whether it is because the methods are immoral, or the act of
discipline itself is immoral, I don't know.
>D. It is immoral to speak against a people because of their genetic
>characteristics. From this I assume one should not speak ill of another
>solely on the basis of his skin color.
Agreed.
>E. It is NOT immoral to speak against a person because of his cultural
>characteristics if those cultural characteristics are immoral. From this I
>assume one is right to speak out against member of a ghetto gang no
>matter the individual’s ethnic background.
Agreed.
>F. It is immoral to put philosophy in the service of any social
>organization or dogma. From this I assume it was immoral for
>America's founding fathers to draw upon English philosophers for their
>Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
Uncertain... I think the uncertainty for me lies in the phrase "put in the
service of." What does it mean for a philosophy to be put in the service of
something else? Isn't philosophy being put in the service of everything we
do every day, and thus in the service of society? We all base our lives on
_some_ kind of philosophy, don't we?
>G. It is immoral for truth to be subordinated to social values. From this
>Pirsig concludes that the practicality test of truth of William James is
>not only immoral, but dangerous.
Agreed, but not entirely convincingly agreed.
>H. It is immoral for philosophers of science to try to suppress Dynamic
>Quality. From this I assume that Kuhn, Feyerabend and other modern
>philosophers of science are correct in saying that scientific truth, like
>moral truth, is relative.
I've always thought this to be the case. Agreed.
>I. It is immoral for sane people to force cultural conformity by
>suppressing the Dynamic drives that produce insanity. From this I
>assume the MOQ approves of legalizing drugs.
Hmm... It would seem as though the MoQ would have me agree, but I'm not
entirely sure the legalization of drugs would be moral. If everything else
acted morally as well, legalizing drugs would be moral. But because of other
factors which could use the legalizing of drugs for immoral purposes, I'm
not sure.
>J. It is immoral to commit suicide.
Yes, agreed.
>K. It is immoral to “karma dump” on an invented devil group like Jews,
>blacks, whites, capitalists, communists, etc. From this I assume Hillary
>Clinton was immoral to blame right wing extremists for her husband’s
>infidelity.
Very much agreed.
>L. It is immoral to create a metaphysics. From this I assume Pirsig’s
>excuse, *Ahh, do it anyway* is the same excuse he uses when he
>enjoys a fat, juicy steak.
Ha ha... Agreed, in the same way that Pirsig does ;).
Brian
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