From: Leland Jory (ljory@mts.net)
Date: Thu Mar 25 2004 - 15:46:17 GMT
On Mar 25, 2004, at 9:07 AM, Platt Holden wrote:
> To which I reply, "Here come the Stalinists," and Pirsig's warns,
> "The ideal of a harmonious society in which everyone without coercion
> cooperates happily with everyone else for the mutual good of all is a
> devastating fiction." (Lila-24)
>
> 'Devastating.' When the subject of humanism comes up, keep Pirsig's
> word
> word in mind.
Yeah, except I take Pirsig's quote as saying: the idea of a harmonious
society in which everyone without coercion cooperates happily with
everyone else for the mutual good of all is a great idea but could
never be implemented because of the tendency of people to step on
everyone else to fulfill their own selfish desires.
The "devastating fiction" part simply comments on how heartbreaking it
is that this ideal could never be put into practice. Or do you somehow
see something wrong with a society where everyone voluntarily
cooperates with everyone else for the good of all? If you do see a
problem with that, would you mind elaborating?
--
Leland Jory :^{)>
Cafeteria Spiritualist and Philosopher
"It is a puzzling thing. The truth knocks on the door and you say, 'Go
away, I'm looking for the truth.' and so it goes away. Puzzling." -
Robert Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
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