From: Matt Kundert (pirsigaffliction@hotmail.com)
Date: Sun Apr 24 2005 - 03:45:46 BST
DMB,
DMB said:
Philosophy is supposed to be about life and if your philosophy is about
philosophy then it is not about life.
And I see this same problem across the board. I love art, but I hate
paintings that are ABOUT PAINTING. I hate poetry that is ABOUT POETRY. I
hate music that is ABOUT MUSIC as well as movies ABOUT MOVIES. And this is
what I mean by my complaints about what you post here. I get the distinct
impression that your philosophy is ABOUT PHILOSOPHY and has very little to
do with what's in your heart. It doesn't come from your life so much as from
the books you've read.
Matt:
Are the books we read not part of our lives?
As I quipped in my paper, "Why is the experience of a book relegated to a
lower position than the experience of a hot dog?"
I followed that with, "There can be no theoretical, universal reason for
this (that would be the kind of “intellectualizing of its hosts behavior”
that Pirsig condemns), though we can give practical, context-dependent
reasons. For instance, in Pirsig's case it is imperative that his quest for
inner peace cross through the history of philosophy. It is important for him
to engage in conversation with the great, dead philosophers to achieve a
measure of wisdom on how to deal with them. This is purity for his heart,
not the heart of philosophy."
So, say what you will that what I write is dead and boring and lifeless.
But that doesn't mean its lifeless to other people, like myself, that are
brought to life by the same things, like the reading of a book. Same thing
goes for the art, poetry, music, and movies you don't like. Some people do
like them because that's what's in their hearts. Those "practical,
context-dependent reasons" are _personal_ reasons. Nobody can tell you, in
a broad sense, whether you are doing philosophy correctly or the right way
because philosophy is deeply personal. And that's what Pirsig's spirit
says. And that's what I've been trying to repeat, in my own lifeless,
substanceless way, against other people here and against a certain general
drift in Pirsig's writings that lends comfort to those people.
You see what I'm saying?
Matt
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