Re: MD Objectivity, Truth and the MOQ

From: David MOREY (us@divadeus.freeserve.co.uk)
Date: Sat Jan 31 2004 - 15:36:30 GMT

  • Next message: David MOREY: "Re: MD teaching and DQ SQ"

    Paul:
    You are talking about subjective and objective in an epistemological*
    sense. In that sense I think the MOQ agrees - the difference is between
    high and low quality intellectual patterns. In an ontological sense, the
    MOQ draws a line between inorganic-biological and social-intellectual
    patterns without awarding the title of Reality exclusively to either
    side of the line.

    David: I agree with this: that the value of the MOQ is in its ontology,
    i.e. a stratified ontology that rejects the idea of undervaluing either
    subject or object as idealism and materialism do. Experience/quality/freedom
    is primary/ontological and questions of epistemology begin when you start
    your
    analytical dissection of this reality.

    ----- Original Message -----
    From: "Paul Turner" <paulj.turner@ntlworld.com>
    To: <moq_discuss@moq.org>
    Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2004 9:40 AM
    Subject: RE: MD Objectivity, Truth and the MOQ

    > Matt
    >
    > Paul previously said:
    > Yes, "little more than" is a conclusion arrived at when the only
    > alternative to objective is subjective. When value enters the picture as
    > a third category, there is a further reason to accept realism - it's the
    > *best* intellectual pattern for investigating nature. From this starting
    > point we can say that intersubjective agreement is created by Quality
    > and objectivity is then created by intersubjective agreement. I think
    > this is an important MOQ contribution to pragmatism. Matt, I'm sure,
    > doesn't think it necessary and puts it down to common sense.
    >
    > Matt said:
    > I'm not sure what the "common sense" bit means in your ascription of my
    > views
    >
    > Paul:
    > In previous discussions I asked how a pragmatist comes to have beliefs
    > about a physical world that collectively become intersubjective
    > agreement. You explained that it was the "believed-in" physical reality
    > that causes a pragmatist to hold such beliefs. When I pointed out the
    > circularity of this you said pragmatism is not concerned with
    > metaphysical explanations and is just supposed to be facile common sense
    > - e.g. it was *obviously* a tiger that caused me to believe in a tiger.
    > Pragmatism offers no general explanation for the arrival at this common
    > sense, except the linear historical progression of ideas. I think the
    > MOQ does.
    >
    > Matt said:
    > ....but I think that saying that there are three categories, objective,
    > subjective, and value, misses the point of what Pirsig was doing.
    >
    > Paul:
    > I was taking the pragmatist position as stated by David - objectivity is
    > little more than intersubjectivity - and expanding it by adding value,
    > which is neither subjective nor objective. (To be clear, I'm using
    > subjective and objective in an ontological sense here). This is the
    > "trinity" stage Phaedrus reaches in ZMM. The MOQ then describes this
    > value as unpatterned value (Dynamic Quality) and redescribes subjective
    > and objective as patterned value (static quality).
    >
    > Matt said:
    > Pirsig posited value behind objective and subjective. I take this to
    > mean that he's dissolving the contrast between them.
    >
    > Paul:
    > Epistemologically, yes, it is dissolved into high and low quality social
    > and intellectual patterns. Ontologically, the contrast remains within
    > static quality in an evolutionary relationship.
    >
    > Matt said:
    > This, I think, is his move towards intersubjective agreement. Value, as
    > the dissolving category (if you will), is a continuum of intersubjective
    > agreement.
    >
    > Paul:
    > Again I think intersubjective agreement, in the MOQ, translates into
    > varying degrees of social and intellectual quality.
    >
    > Matt said:
    > Put this way, you are moreorless right, "intersubjective agreement is
    > created by Quality and objectivity is then created by intersubjective
    > agreement." Pragmatists just don't take the "objectivity" to mean
    > anything more than "lots of intersubjective agreement." As long as we
    > have Quality in place, there isn't really a good line to be drawn
    > between merely intersubjective and objective.
    >
    > Paul:
    > You are talking about subjective and objective in an epistemological*
    > sense. In that sense I think the MOQ agrees - the difference is between
    > high and low quality intellectual patterns. In an ontological sense, the
    > MOQ draws a line between inorganic-biological and social-intellectual
    > patterns without awarding the title of Reality exclusively to either
    > side of the line.
    >
    > *Correct me if I'm wrong but, because you don't do metaphysics, in
    > neo-pragmatism ontology is collapsed into epistemology and reduced to
    > the continuum of more or less useful knowledge? The MOQ grounds both
    > ontology and epistemology in value. I think this is why we sometimes
    > talk past each other a little.
    >
    > Regards
    >
    > Paul
    >
    >
    >
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