From: David Buchanan (DBuchanan@ClassicalRadio.org)
Date: Sat May 22 2004 - 21:11:14 BST
Alicia, Platt, Mark H and all MOQers:
Alicia D asked:
There's been talk about the relationships between social and biological
levels and the need for police/force to control 'biological crime'. but i
don't think i understand what that means. laws lie entirely within the
social level so in what ways does the breaking of those laws cross over into
biology?
dmb says:
Welcome to the forum. Your question is addressed directly in chapter 24 of
Lila. That's where Pirsig spells out the difference between common criminals
and Galileos, between "biological" crimes and a genuine struggle with social
oppression. There he explains that we can see the difference "by carefully
distinguishing those moral issues that are social-biological from those that
are intellectual-social and making sure there is no encroachment either way.
What's at issue here isn't just a clash of society and biology but a clash
of two entirely different CODES of morals in which society is the middle
term." And so its not that "laws cross over into biology" but rather the
laws and morals of the social level are designed to mollify and control
biology. But it is an entirely different matter when society tries to
control the dynamic contrarian, as in the case of the Zuni Brujo, or when it
tries to control intellect, as in the case of Galileo.
AD asked:
is all crime biological?
msh replied:
In the strictest sense of the MoQ, yes, all crime is biological, IMO. But,
remember, this has nothing to do with whether or not the "crime" is
recognized as such by any given society...
dmb chimes in too:
I disagree for reasons explained above, among others. To be more precise,
when the laws of society are disregarded in favor non-biological reasons it
is not a biological crime. Societies can not evolve without someone being
the first the break the old rules and the case of the Brujo Pirsig says just
that. Its also considered immoral for a soceity to repress intellect so
that, on a good day, even a police officer can be arrested and charged with
a crime for doing so. Not that such a thing is common, but there are laws
that protect the Galileos of the world and violating them is a crime. Or
take the case of terrorism. Here we have real world examples of people
overcoming the will to survive in order to further social goals. Those goals
might not be my cup of tea, but it seems clear to me that biological
pleasure is not really the motive. (Yea, I know. 72 virgins and all that.
Let's say ghost nookie doesn't count.) Another example hits closer to home.
Literally. Throughout my entire adult lifetime the religious right has
conducted a low-grade war of terror. Gay bars and medical clinics where
abortions are preformed have been bombed, set on fire and shot up. Abortion
doctors have been shot and gay people have been beaten to death. If all
these acts where gathered up from every corner of the country and the last
20 years were compressed into a more perceptible span of time, say six
months or a year, it would look like what it really is; a war against
secular society. And these crimes are motived by social values, particularly
church morals. That's crime. That's terrorism. And its not biological.
Platt Holden asserted:
Most biological forms attain their ends (survival) by terrorizing, stealing
or lying, or a combination thereof. Terrorism is the preferred tactic of
most animals who must kill other animals to survive.
AD replied:
You've anthropomorphicized a lot here. ...animals don't murder or terrorize,
they kill to eat, just as we don't call eating a chicken terrorism. And
stealing only has meaning when property is valued...obviously social.
dmb adds:
Right. Good point, AD. Using Platt's "logic", I don't eat grilled steak
because its tasty and nutritious, I eat it to assert my political will over
the other cows. There are many reasons to kill; to defend one's home, self,
society, to eat, to execute criminals, to make money, to hide a secret, to
cure a disease or advance a cause. Terrorism is rightly considered a crime,
but it is a political act. We don't have to agree with the cause to agree
that it is motivated by social level goals.
Thanks,
dmb
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