Very nice work, Marco! I think you picked the right quotes and clearly
demonstrated that the intellectual level is very much about human rights.
And sentimental soup its NOT. Bravo!
There are many posts that I'd love to comment upon, at least twenty. Some of
them need a response because they're so damn interesting, some because they
were directed at claims I'd made and some because, sadly, they seemed to be
so outlandish and outrageous. In any case, I'm sorry that time does not
permit me to respond to them all. Maybe its worth saying that I read every
post and don't wish to ignore anyone. I picked Marco's because it offered so
many relevant Pirsig quotes and it seemed to be a kind of culmination of the
thread. I deleted Marco's comments and some of the Pirsig quotes only for
your sake, dear reader.
Pirsig...
«But what the larger intellectual structure of the Metaphysics of Quality
makes clear is that this political battle of science to free itself from
domination by social moral codes was in fact a *moral* battle! It was the
battle of a higher, intellectual level of evolution to keep itself from
being devoured by a lower, social level of evolution.
This quote is so rich. I'm tempted to spend a couple thousand words on it,
but I won't. What I'd like to do here, and in this entire message, is
connect it to actual events. Pirsig opens the 22nd chapter by describing the
20th century as a hurricane, as a ferocious *moral* battle between social
and intellectual values. And sadly, I think there are particpants in this
forum who are often fighting on the wrong side in that war.
Pirsig...
Communism and socialism, programs for intellectual control over society,
were confronted by the reactionary forces of fascism, a program for the
social control of intellect. ... The gigantic power of socialism and
fascism, which have overwhelm this century, is explained by a conflict of
levels of evolution.
Pirsig...
«This [society vs. intellect] conflict explains the driving force behind
Hitler not as an insane search for power but as an all-consuming
glorification of social authority an hatred of intellectualism»
DMB...
Don't get me wrong. I'm not a Marxist. I'm not trying to sell Communism. I'm
not saying that Pirsig is a Socialist. I'm not going to accuse anyone here
of being a Fascist. The point is simply that we can see the
social/intellectual moral battle play itself out in world events, in war, in
politics, in the so-called culture war and in social movements. What I am
saying is that political ideologies, even more moderate ideologies like
liberalism and conservatism, can be appraised in terms of this battle. And I
think its pretty darn important to take a good look at where you stand and
to choose your enemies carefully. Perhaps this notion deserves its own
thread?
Pirsig...
«Phaedrus thought that a Metaphysics of Quality could be a replacement for
the paralyzing intellectual system that is allowing all this destruction to
go unchecked».
DMB...
The problem with the early "programs for intellectual control over society",
the problem that allowed all that destruction, is that they were based on a
flawed metaphysics. SOM is a metaphysical system that's like a child trying
to kill its parent. Those programs were based on SOM, on amoral scientific
materialism, on a system that rejected morality as merely subjective, on a
worldview that rejected mysticism as somthing like insanity, on an
epistemology that lead to a lonely and isolating solipsism. And these are
only among the major flaws that the MOQ claims to solve. I think it does
solve those problems and that's exactly why I like it so much.
Pirsig...
"Phaedrus remembered parties in the fifties and sixties full of liberal
intellectuals like himself who actually admired the criminal types that
sometimes showed up. "Here we are," they seemed to believe, "drug
pushers, flower children, anarchists, civil rights workers, college
professors--we're all just comrades-in-arms against the cruel and
corrupt social system that is really the enemy of us all.
DMB...
I think its very important to understand that he's not attacking liberal
intellectuals here, he's attacking SOM. Please don't use quotes like this to
abuse flower children or civil rights workers. I beg you not to construe the
quote to mean that college professors are bad or that cruel and corrupt
social systems are our friends. Don't even use to to bash drug pushers or
anarchists. I think its pretty clear, when seen in context, that he's
talking about the flaws in SOM, and even further, Pirsig is admiting that he
was just as guilty as anyone. Using quotes like this to express
anti-intellectual attitudes and beliefs is, IMO, terribly foolish.
Pirsig...
The Hippies have been interpreted as frivolous spoiled children, and the
period folling their departure as a 'return to values,' whatever that means.
The Metapshysics of Quality, however, says that's backward: the Hippie
revolution was the moral movement. The present period is the collapse of
values.
DMB...
Again, please don't get me wrong. I'm not a hippie. I'm not old enough nor
priviledged enough. And I can easily agree with Pirsig's criticisms of that
movement. As you can see from the context of the quote, he has many
reservations and qulifications for his support of them. The important thing
to realize, I think, is that the MOQ shows that the present period is one of
moral collapse. Ironically, the so-called "return to values" is immoral. Its
immoral because it represents those reactionary forces that would like to
re-assert social values over intellectual values. I think its pretty clear
that Pirsig is essential attacking well known forces like the Christian
Coalition, the Moral Majority, the Reagan Revolution, Thatcherism and a
whole host of other crypto-fascist movements just like them in other
countries. Their anxiety is understandable. They're on the losing side of
history and on the losing side of evolution. They seem to know this on some
intuitive level, and they're right to feel threatened, but that doesn't mean
they're any less dangerous. Now the heart of the matter...
Pirsig...
This soup of sentiments about logically nonexistent entities can be
straightened out by the Metaphysics of Quality. It says that what is meant
by "human rights" is usually the moral code of intellect-vs.-society, the
moral right of intellect to be free of social control. Freedom of speech;
freedom of assembly, of travel; trial by jury; habeas corpus; government by
consent-these "human rights" are all intellect-vs.-society issues. According
to the Metaphysics of Quality these "human rights" have not just a
sentimental basis, but a rational, metaphysical basis».
DMB...
He says it explicitly, "the moral right of intellect to be free of social
control". That's what all the other rights are aimed at. Its immoral to
restrain intellectual freedom not just because it nice to let people say and
think what ever they like, but because it would be the restraint of
evolution itself. In the MOQ, intellectual static patterns are the most
evolved and so supressing would restrain their migration toward Dynamic
Quality itself. Fighting against human rights is as irrational as making a
law against invention or innovation. Its ungodly, wicked and bad to try to
undo or even mollify these principles, even if the supposed reason is
preservation of society. And I think its critical to realize that the
American Constitution, specifically the bill of Rights, and the Declaration
of Independence does not grant these rights, they only recognize them. These
rights do not belong ONLY to Americans, or to Westerners. Otherwise they
would NOT be rights, they'd only be priviledges. The purpose of government
is to secure these rights.
For the third time, please don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to reduce
metaphysics to a political debate, but if we want to distinguish between
third and fourth level values the examination of political struggle is one
of the keys. Pirsig makes many, many references to these kinds of real
world, in the street battles. He even invented Rigel as a way to address his
more conservative critics, to answer those who accuse him of moral
relativism.
So, did you go to http://www.politicalcompass.org/ yet? How'd you do? It
matters.
I know this is way too long. Thanks very much for your time.
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