From: hampday@earthlink.net
Date: Tue Aug 17 2004 - 07:19:17 BST
From Ham in response to "msh", Monday, August 16
Subject: Re: MD MOQ and The Problem Of Evil
msh wrote to us all:
>
> Here's another attempt at a MOQ formulation of the Problem Of Evil,
> (or The Problem of Immorality) with thanks to Mel for clarification:
>
> (P1) QUALITY is Moral Perfection
> (P2) QUALITY contains DQ and SQ
> (P3) SQ attempts to dominate DQ
> (P4) Such attempts are immoral
>
> Therefore, Moral Perfection contains immorality.
>
> Any thoughts? Complaints? Accusations?
>
>
I'm still waiting for you to resolve the nature of Quality for me, Mark.
In the meantime, as a lay student of MOQ, I'd like to introduce some fresh
air from the "outside" to what you folks regard as the "problem" of Evil.
Evil is a problem for you for the same reason that it troubles the theists
who are unable to explain why their "perfect" God would allow evil to exist
in the world. The parallel is more than coincidental; for you are both
concerned with the same thing -- a transcendent essence. I've maintained
all along that Pirsig's Quality is none other than the Creator, which you
will of course deny; although your current debate only affirms it. What
lesser entity could be the object of such moral perplexity?
In the polarized world of existence, reality presents us with conditional
values that are sensed as good and bad -- health and sickness, beauty and
ugliness, birth and death, love and hostility, peace and violence. Man
views the undesirable aspects of his experience as "bad", and when they
appear in human behavior he censures them. The result is the development of
a moral system that ensures the survival of human culture.
The fact that we confront this valuistic schism can be explained as a
function of the relativity of Nature. But I prefer to see it
teleologically, as providing the range of choices needed for the exercise of
individual freedom. Consider the alternative: if man's existence was "good"
in every respect, there would be no evil, but there would also be no free
choice. I've said before that Freedom is a "divine gift" to man; but it is
also man's responsibility to make the "right" choices within a moral
framework of his own making (i.e., without the intercession of a divinity).
Now, unless this teleological scheme occurred simply as an "accident of
Nature", there must be an antecedant cause. Where do you suppose this
"gift" of Freedom comes from?
"Good and evil" certainly express the Quality and Value(s) of life; but,
however they may be defined, neither term qualifies to connote the Creator
of existence. Only an entity that transcends difference -- including the
subject/object (awareness/being) dichotomy -- can be given this metaphysical
distinction. Throw away your "Ps & Qs", gentlemen. The solution you are
seeking is Absolute Essence.
Essentially yours,
Ham
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