Greetings,
DAN:
"Hi Struan
By using foundational value-situations, Pirsig effectively eliminates any
reference to 'good' or 'bad', 'positive' or 'negative' situations and
instead seems to institute scales of value, from low to high. Instead of
saying "sitting on a hot stove is bad" Pirsig states it to be low-value,
which does not necessarily equate with 'bad' or 'negative' unless taken as
subjective."
Hi Dan. I confess that I'm not sure what your point is in the context of my comments, but I have to
say that your claim that Pirsig, " eliminates any
reference to 'good' or 'bad', 'positive' or 'negative' situations," is wrong from the quotation on
the cover page of ZAMM, "And what is good Phaedrus, And what is not good - Need we ask anyone to
tell us these things?" right through both his works to the last paragraph of Lila, "Good is a noun."
The whole point of the exercise is surely to throw some light on where morality (good and bad) comes
from and what it is, hence 'an enquiry into morals.' I can't see any way that Pirsig could have made
it more plain than starting with it, finishing with it and subtitling his second book with it - or
am I missing something?
Struan
------------------------------------------
Struan Hellier
< mailto:struan@clara.co.uk>
"All our best activities involve desires which are disciplined and
purified in the process."
(Iris Murdoch)
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