Hi John,
> So how does a shift in thinking
> ("your intellectual view or
> metaphysics") improve the contact with what is?
Pirsig is attacking the "cultural immune system" with
his MOQ. He traces it back to anthropology and Boas
and he realized the only way to attack the wall was to
attack the foundation. Thus, he landed up in
Metaphysics (Derrida tears up the foundations as
well). So Pirsig's goal, at least as stated in the
book, was to fight against this "central internal
conflict in America", this "conflict between European
and Indian values, between freedom and order" (p. 54)
So Pirsig thinks he can clear up this conflict by the
MOQ. If this conflict is cleared up, then you are more
in touch with "what is." This is, of course, clear
Nietzsche territory. Nietzsche's first work was the
description of the conflict between Apollo and
Dionysus in drama, the god of order and the god of
freedom. Nietzsche eventually narrowed it down to just
Dionysus, who is the god of wine (freedom, DQ) and the
god of culture (order, sq) in one person. And what
ulitmately is Pirsig's question? "Is it better to have
wisdom or is it better to be attractive to the
ladies?... [to] Phaedrus there ought to be some way
you could have both p 232" That is the heart of
Nietzsche as well I think.
> My core interest in in transformation, and the key
> question is "How might I find a
> transformative path in a world where I experience
> cruelty, injustice, shame,
> projection, and so on, as well as inspirational art
> and the beauty of
> nature?" My experience suggests that changing my
> thinking may indeed have a
> role, but only in the larger context of 'direct
> experience'.
MOQ is a pointer for Pirsig. p 467: "Maybe when
Phaedrus got this metaphysics all put together people
would see that the value-centered reality it described
wasn't just a wild thesis off into some new direction
but a CONNECTING LINK to a part of themselves which
had always been suppressed by cultural norms and which
needed opening up...Phaedrus hoped this Quality
metaphysics was something that would get past the
IMMUNE SYSTEM and show that American Indian mysticism
is not something alien from American culture. It's a
deep submerged hidden root of it." Nietzsche takes a
Greek god (Dionysus)as a model whereas Pirsig takes an
American woman (Lila) who "knocks them out with her
American thighs" (a reference our Australian friends
will like).
As for your transformative path, I might divert you to
the German work on the "will." Heidegger talks about
the "Being" and the "beings", which is almost a direct
correlation with DQ and sq. You have to have the
"gelassenheit", the sense of peace, to allow the
"Being" to show through your "being." Or let DQ show
through your sq patterns. If you have a radical
"gelassenheit" that the world is "good", then giving
up your "being" for "Being" will be a good affair. I
think "gelassenheit" is a better word for you than the
word "faith". Gelassenheit is a sort of will to will,
a peace or serenity that you tune into. You have to
"give up" your individual being though in order to be
taken over by the "Being" of the world. You have to
"kill all intellectual patterns... and then follow
Dynamic Quality and morality will be served.(p 454)"
But how do you do this? Well you need to learn to
recognize your intellectual patterns or Freudian ego.
I thought the MOQ could help here but I don't think it
does as explained above. There are many ways to do it.
I do salsa dancing and I am sure everyone does it
differently. Maybe Pirsig's next work will be a "how
to kill intellectual patterns" manual. If someone
could suggest otherwise that'd be great.
Angus
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