From: Paul Turner (pauljturner@yahoo.co.uk)
Date: Sat Apr 19 2003 - 11:03:01 BST
Hi Wim
Thanks for reminding me of the passages in Lila, I now
recall Pirsig's description of mysticism. What I have
in mind is something less 'exceptional' and resulting
from practice but more 'natural' and sustained.
Is the natural activity of the mind to react to
'existential doubt' by finding and clinging to
patterns of thought? Or has it developed that way as
an evolutionary dead end, although once useful? Has
thought, once useful simply to survive, been applied
to the wrong purpose? Perhaps metaphysics, as an
attempt to say something about 'all' is simply beyond
the reach of the part of mind we call the intellect.
The whole history of metaphysics can be seen as the
struggle of abstract thought against degeneracy and
it's collapse as a platform from which the moral
activity of mankind can spring.
My point is, does the moral activity of mankind need a
platform of abstract thought to spring from when the
activity of the rest of the universe 'appears' to
spring from something else (ok, speculation), which
Pirsig would call Dynamic Quality? Have we forgotten
that our minds are abstractions?
In terms of the 'code of Art', I'll need to read again
what Pirsig says but I seem to remember this was
something he didn't cover in depth? Art as a dynamic
state (another oxymoron?) of mind from which moral
activity emerges sounds like what is in my mind.
Thanks
Paul
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