From: Platt Holden (pholden@sc.rr.com)
Date: Tue Oct 11 2005 - 13:45:17 BST
Dear Wim,
You wrote to Erin:
> We need an integrated system of ideas to integrate all possbile types of
> duties and rank them (at the 4th level). I referred for instance to duty
> towards one's species, a 4th level reference to 2nd level quality and duty
> towards a group (social well-being), a 4th level reference to 3rd level
> quality. A duty towards 'truth' would be a reference to 4th level quality.
> Wanting to be 'christ-like' would for me be more like a reference to DQ
> (and a choice rather than a duty, for as soon as it is seen as a duty it
> becomes 4th level sq).
I think it's well to be reminded from time to time of Pirsig's observation
about the inherent defect in 4th level intellect when it comes to using it
to establish lower level qualities:
"But having said this, the Metaphysics of Quality goes on to say that
science, the intellectual pattern that has been appointed to take over
society, has a defect in it. The defect is that subject-object science has
no provision for morals. Subject-object science is only concerned with
facts. Morals have no objective reality. You can look through a microscope
or telescope or oscilloscope for the rest of your life and you will never
find a single moral. There aren't any there. They are all in your head.
They exist only in your imagination." (Lila, 22)
Thus, your moral concept of "duty" would seem to arise from some source
other than the intellectual level. Which begs the question, "From what
source does duty arise?" From the intrinsic compulsion to survive perhaps?
That it's better to continue being than not to be?
Best regards,
Platt
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