[MD] The Quality/MOQ meta-metaphysics

[Ham Priday]

Greetings, Craig -- 



> I wonder if there isn't a compromise between Pirsig's MoQ
> & Bo's SOL (the metaphysics of ZMM?). Pirsig emphasizes
> static patterns of value.  Bo identifies the intellectual level
> with Subjects & Objects.  But what if Subjects & Objects
> are seen as static patterns of value?  Doesn't this bridge the
> gap between the 2 metaphysics?

Of course it does.  But Bo is not contesting Pirsig's concept of subjects 
and objects as "patterns of value."  He's positing the intellectual level as 
SOM --
a "metaphysics of duality" -- and he ascribes this metaphysics to an 
evolutionary period in history.  He's seduced a few others who claim that 
all intellectual precepts reside in this intellectual level, which conflicts 
with the author's premise that pure, undefined Quality = Reality.

Look at how he interprets the original block diagram in ZMM:

> ...in the preliminaries to diagram-drawing Quality is
> "pre-intellectual" while "intellectual" is the object
> becoming aware of subjects.

Where in Pirsig's writings, old or new, is it stated that "objects become 
aware of subjects"?  What New Age nonsense is this?  We won't advance 
metaphysics by turning existence upside down on the theory that epistemology 
doesn't matter.  Nor will we "transform the world" (Obama-style) into a 
Quality Utopia by pretending that subjects and objects don't exist.

In my opinion, any philosophy that cannot accommodate experiential reality 
is meaningless, much less worth debating.  Sadly, I'm beginning to realize 
that no interpretation of the MoQ will lead us to the great enlightenment 
that its author anticipated.

For me, Value (Quality) is an aspect of ultimate reality which we are all 
privileged to realize as cognizant creatures.  Value is the "essence" of our 
experience, but we can only know it in a relational sense, as one thing 
(phenomenon or pattern) being better or worse than something else.  Life is 
an individual experience, and Truth, goodness, morality, and wisdom are all 
relative to the observing self.  If we cannot accept our subjective 
individuality and the differentiated world we experience, we will not learn 
from participating in it, let alone come up with a metaphysics to explain 
its ultimate source.

Your attempt to "bridge the gap" is a noble effort, Craig, and I wish you 
success in your venture through Qualityland.

Best regards,
Ham