Glove
Thanks for the interest in my pieces on MoQ site. Questions are welcome but
my guess is that any shaky position posed has no doubt have changed by now as the
thought behind them is at least four years old and before my exposure to the
LS/MOQ conversations.
I think some of the confusion over Pirsig's positions is a result of a similar
evolution in his thoughts over the last 50 years.
On the gravity issue got I caught skimming. Am I right in assuming these are
snippets of Pirsig explaining a point to Anthony Watt?
> >Among these patterns is the intellectual pattern that says
> >"there is an external world of things out there which are
> >independent of intellectual patterns".
> >
> >That is one of the highest quality intellectual patterns
> >there is. And in this highest quality intellectual
> >pattern, external objects appear historically before
> >intellectual patterns...
> >
> >But this highest quality intellectual pattern itself comes
> >before the external world, not after, as is commonly presumed by the materialists.
Prior to Pirsig whetting my interest in philosophy I'm sure my response would
have been: This guy is playing word games, I'm outta here. That being said I
think much of the source of American's aversion to philosophy stems from
philosophic discourse such as this which seem esoteric, vague, and muddleheaded.
[There is an] intellectual pattern that says "there is an external world of
things out there which are independent of intellectual patterns". [but as
already stated "that external world of things" is still just an intellectual
pattern (though that external world of things is independent of intellectual
patterns) etc. etc.]
As a child I had a "tippy cup" with a picture of bear holding a "tippy cup"
with a picture of a bear holding a "tippy cup." While conceptually infinite
the reality was the limitations of sight and printing.
If metaphysics is a map, Why do I want one that leads me in circles?
As James's squirrel goes around the tree avoiding the potentially predatory
man it seems to possess sufficient intellect to know that this external object
is real enough to make him into stew.
I check your website out you have some good stuff there I followed the U.C.
link and surfed a bit but not ready to dive into those waters yet.
Dave Thomas
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