From: Matt the Enraged Endorphin (mpkundert@students.wisc.edu)
Date: Wed Jan 29 2003 - 00:44:21 GMT
Kevin, Platt,
Kevin said after the series of Pirsig quotes:
I think you can read "absolutely" in these quotes as "completely" or "utterly".
Matt:
The only reason I hesitate to read Pirsig as saying "completely" or
"utterly" is because (and I love beating Platt to the punch on this) the
full quote of Pirsig is:
"But what's not so obvious is that, given a value-centered Metaphysics of
Quality, it is absolutely, scientifically moral for a doctor to prefer the
patient. This is not just an arbitrary social convention that should apply
to some doctors but not to all doctors, or to some cultures but not all
cultures. It's true for all people at all times, now and forever...."
It's tempting to say, "Well, Pirsig just meant to emphatically endorse the
MoQ solution," but I'm coming to think that Pirsig really did mean,
"Absolutely, now and forever." This is why I think there's a tremendous
tension between the above quote and the "rectangular/polar coordinates"
analogy and, pace Scott, I don't think a third path is suggested to bring
the two pieces together.
So, while I'm certainly sympathetic to reading "absolutely" as "completely"
or "utterly" (and I might do just that when reading those sections), I
think it's important to keep in mind the tension.
Matt
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