Hi Rick & Platt,
Once you believe something to be an absolute truth your mind is forever
closed on that subject. That is a major drawback of SOM. If, instead, you
accept Pirsig's stance that "...the MOQ does not insist on a single
exclusive truth ..." then you are still free to judge the value of something
based on it's intellectual level of quality (that is, whether it passes
Pirsig's tests of truth). Seems to me the entire concept of Truth is an
intellectual level static value. The truths we construct today may become
the falsehoods of tomorrow if that truth is superceded by a new one found to
posess greater intellectual value.
I think Pirsig demotes Truth from its pinnacle in the SOM pantheon. Dynamic
Quality does not equal Truth. Isn't that what he's saying here? "... if
Quality or excellence is seen as the ultimate reality then it becomes
possible for more than one set of truths to exist. Then one doesn't seek
the absolute 'Truth.' One seeks instead the highest quality intellectual
explanation..."
The whole idea of Absolute Truths is a dangerous one. SOM raises Truth to
the level of Quality, while the MOQ demotes Truth to the level of the
intellect.
Comments?
Wishing you happiness,
Mary
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