From: David Buchanan (DBuchanan@ClassicalRadio.org)
Date: Sun Mar 23 2003 - 00:39:18 GMT
Sam, Matt, Rick and all:
Point 1.) The inability to distinguish between social and intellectual
values is a feature of SOM.
"Phaedrus thought the metaphysics of substance fails to illuminate the gulf
between ourselves and Victorians because it regards both society AND
intellect as possession of biology. It says society and intellect don't have
substance and therefore can't be real. It says biology is where reality
stops. Society and intellect are ephemeral POSSESSIONS of reality. In a
substance metaphysics, consequently, the distinction between society and
intellect is sort of like a distinction between what's in the right pocket
and what's in the left pocket of biological man."
Point 2.) The difference is huge, like the difference between rocks and
ravens.
"In a value metaphysics, on the other hand, society and intellect are
patterns of value. They're real. They're independent. They're not properties
of 'man' any more than cats are the property of catfood or a tree is a
property of soil. Biological man does not create his society any more than
soil 'creates' a tree. The pattern of the tree is dependent upon the
minerals in the soil and would die without them, but the tree's pattern is
not created by the soil's chemical pattern. It is hostile to the soil's
chemical pattern. It 'exploits' the soil, 'devours' the soil for its own
purposes, just the cat devours the catfood for its own purposes. In this
manner biological man is exploited and devoured by social patterns that are
essentially hostile to his biological values."
Point 3.) This distinction goes along way toward explaining the conflicts of
history and of our own time.
"This is also true of intellect and society. Intellect has its own patterns
and goals that are as independent of society as society is independent of
biology. A value metaphysics makes it possible to see that there's a
conflict between intellect and society that's just as fierce as the conflict
between society and biology or the conflict between biology and death.
Biology beat death billions of years ago. Society beat biology thousands of
years ago. But intellect and society are still fighting it out, and that is
the key to an understanding of both the Victorians and the 20th century."
Thanks for lending your eyes,
DMB
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