From: Platt Holden (pholden@sc.rr.com)
Date: Mon Mar 22 2004 - 16:17:59 GMT
Dear Wim,
> David B. wrote 20 Mar 2004 12:48:22 -0700:
> 'I think that you belittle the debate as "bickering" not because America is
> polarized, but because you deny one of Pirsig's central ideas; the idea
> that we are presently in a period of evolutionary change and that the
> social and intellectual levels are at war.'
Wim:
> I distinguished 18 Mar 2004 08:29:48 +0100 between:
> 'discussing ABOUT POLITICS' and 'discussing IN A POLITICAL WAY' in a
> polarized political climate.
>
> When we are discussing about politics (about our experience of the social
> and intellectual patterns of value that constitute 'politics') we can
> discuss whether the polarized political climate in America reflects the
> tension between social and intellectual patterns of value and whether 'war'
> is a fitting metaphor. Indeed, you (David B.) and Platt apparently agree
> that the social and intellectual levels are at war and that the 'political
> Giant' should not 'corrupt intellectual honesty'.
DMB and I don't agree on much, but we agree that 'war' between the
intellectual and social levels is indeed a fitting metaphor because it's
Pirsig's:
"Intellect is going its own way, and in doing so is at war with society,
seeking to subjugate society, to put society under lock and key. An
evolutionary morality says it is moral for intellect to do so, but it also
contains a warning: Just as a society that weakens its people's physical
health endangers its own stability, so does an intellectual pattern that
weakens and destroys the health of its social base also endanger its own
stability." (Lila-13)
You're free, of course, to alter the MOQ any way you wish by saying, for
example, the levels are not at war. But it wouldn't be the MOQ.
Having said that, I disagree with DMB's assertion that the conservative
position is anti-intellectual. I believe this may be what you have in mind
when you say that what we have here is basically an intellectual level
conflict with one side defending the health of the social patterns against
those who oppose those patterns.
Reconciling this apparent contradiction in the MOQ shouldn't be difficult
because no matter how you slice it, the MOQ is itself an intellectual
pattern.
Best wishes,
Platt
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