From: Platt Holden (pholden@sc.rr.com)
Date: Wed Mar 23 2005 - 13:54:53 GMT
Hi Ham,
> Platt:
>
> For heaven's sake, let it go!
>
> Music was never meant to be dissected and scrutinized for its
> socio-political implications. It is an art form -- pure and simple -- and
> it's obvious to me that your antagonists have neither the artistic
> sensitivity nor the disposition to regard its elements as anything but
> expressions of sexual debauchery, social rebellion, and general violence.
I understand your frustration, but to ban art forms (or politics) from a
philosophical discussion group seems to me to be a low quality
restriction. Philosophy, especially metaphysics, accounts for a great deal
of human behavior, whether individuals acknowledge the influence of
philosophy on their decisions or not. The general coarsening of American
society has its roots in answers to the philosophical questions: Where am
I? How do I know it? What should I do?
Be that as it may, the subjects of morality and values is very much
"philosophical" in an academic sense, and I would suggest that art not
only reflects but influences those subjects.
Of course, one's evaluation of art is largely a matter of personal taste.
To debate about it is hopeless if your opponent doesn't implicitly
recognize any difference in its various forms. That said, there still
remains high and low quality taste, just as there are high and low quality
ideas, a statement you apparently agree with your reference to "artistic
sensitivity."
What interests me about rock is it's relationship to social degeneration
which Pirsig discusses at length in Chapter 24 of Lila. I keep trying to
shift the conversation to a critique of Pirsig's analysis, without
success. I can only surmise that this refusal to engage means there's
little agreement with Pirsig's premise that societal morality is going
down hill. If you think rock is artistically equivalent to the symphonic
music of Bach, Brahms and Beethoven, the chances of your agreeing with
Pirsig's idea of a declining society is slim indeed.
In any case, there will always be several conversations going on at the
same time on this site. Everyone is free to participate or not, as it
should be.
Best regards,
Platt
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