Dear Tanya,
Most of the major faiths speak in monotheistic terms and then design a
divine being in the image of their culture. When Nietzsche speaks of God
being dead, I believe he is saying that these regional / cultural concepts
of God must die if we are to understand the new philosophy which he predicts
in "Beyond Good and Evil". These new philosophers of which I believe both
Jung and Pirsig are members, are trying to re-acquaint us with the ancient
yet still genuine portrait of God. IT is, as the Judeao-Christian faith
expounds, "the Alpha and the Omega." The Taoist would say IT is Everything.
IT encompasses all that is Good AND all that is Evil. Good and Evil are not
the results of the external influences of deities and demons, but rather
originate from the cause and effect of human, animal, plant and mineral
behaviour, the components of GOD. This fits with the concept that God
cannot be named (i.e. described) because if each of us is only a small part
of God, how can we ever remove ourselves from IT to see ITs full glory.
Nietzsche, I believe, is implying that we are God, collectively, and that
we, not some external being, must take responsibility for all that occurs,
which ultimately is the effect of our individual self wills.
Regarding Love, I have found that Love, like God, can never be adequately
described through prose. Poetry is Love's natural medium. I highly recommend
the poetry of Rumi. For a more contemporary poet, e. e. cummings comes to
mind. Good poetry is never overt, and the true philosophy of Love can never
be perceived with the mind, but only with the heart.
Please let me know what you think.
The Bard
----- Original Message -----
From: Tanya <gulfstream@hfx.andara.com>
To: <moq_discuss@moq.org>
Sent: Wednesday, September 26, 2001 11:45 PM
Subject: RE: MD Re: Nietzsche
> Dear Platt,
>
> This is a short note to say, thank you for this!
>
> I'm still 'thinking on it' (although I'm fairly confident it's not an
> entirely 'intellectual' pursuit) I think Pirsig is thinking on it
> too, well prepared to make the 'leap' outside of 'intellect' as well.
> As I read the last 10 chapters or so of Lila, vaguely suspicious it
> was 'God' he was getting to, but for whatever reason not speaking it
> out loud (perhaps for fear of loosing 'intellectual' audience?, or
> better yet, not wanting to deprive the reader of the intimacy of a
> personal quest/discovery!), I found myself on the edge of my seat,
> hoping he'd at least adopt a fall back position, barely able to
> contain myself from saying out loud : "say it! Say it! Call it Love!"
> to Pirsig ... but he never did...
>
> So, (given my patterns *grin*) "Love" is the path I'm running down,
> and have been looking for titles.
>
> One I read last week was of Erich Fromme : "The Art of Loving".
>
> Politics aside (I seriously doubt I'm a 'Marxist' - but know too
> little to say for sure***), Fromme is an interesting read. He's
> credited with important contributions to the field of Psychology.
> (and lived through two world wars)
> Here is a Fromme quote from the brief biography in the edition I have :
> "love ... is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problems
> of human existence ... Love is not primarily a relationship to a
> specific person, ... Love is an attitude, an orientation of
> character, which determines the relatedness of a person to the world
> as a whole, not towards one 'object' of love".
>
> I also delight in a passage he presents on "rationalized cynicism" -
> that only a martyr or madman could participate in the general 'fraud'
> of love. He argues that this is moral nihilism.
>
> Seems one of the biggest problems I'll encounter in my 'philosophy'
> quest is that "Love" is mostly dealt with in Psychology, Psychiatry
> and Religion, and even there the waters get very muddy very quickly -
> so many variants come into play in love's practise with real people.
>
> And I'm a beginner! - - So this is a plea to all! - I'll be grateful
> if anyone can reference for me any writing on the 'philosophy' of
> Love.
>
> love,
>
> Tanya
>
> I'm currently reading "A Natural History of Love", Diane Ackerman.
> Although she quotes many sources, She gives brief overviews of some
> 'philosophers' : Plato, 'The Perfect Union'; 'Stendhal meets the deep
> south'; Denis de Rougemont, 'Love and magic'; Marcel Proust and the
> erotics of waiting; Freud, 'The Origins of Desire'; and 'Attachment
> theory'.
>
> *** Why did the Marxist cross the hall?
> . . .to get to the other classroom. . . .
>
>
>
> >I agree 100 per cent. Several years ago on this site I wrote 13
> >Basic Principles
> >of the MOQ, and the first one was:
> >
> >1. The Quality Principle: Quality is simultaneously an immanent and
> >transcendent moral force. It created and gave purpose to our world,
> >motivated by the ethical principle of the "Good" which is its essence.
> >Quality is synonymous with "morality" and "value." Thus, the world is
> >primarily a moral order, consisting not of subjects (mental things) and
> >objects (material things) but patterns of value.
> >
> >The basis for this beginning principle was Pirsig's discussion of
> >Dharma in Chapter 30 that concludes with:
> >
> >"Dharma is Quality itself, the principle of 'rightness' which gives
> >structure and purpose to the evolution of all life and to the evolving
> >understanding of the universe which life has created."
> >
> >Yes, God as been resurrected by the new intellectual pattern called the
> >MOQ and is now known in MOQ terms as the "Good." It sure beats
> >SOM's "it was just an accident" answer to philosophy's toughest
> >question, "Why there is something rather than nothing?"
> >
> >Platt
> >
> >
> >
> >MOQ.ORG - http://www.moq.org
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> >MD Queries - horse@darkstar.uk.net
> >
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>
>
>
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