[MD] Platt and Arlo

[Platt Holden]

Hi Mike,

> Please tell me if this is an accurate summary of your recent slew of
> correspondence on the MD:
> 
> Platt: "Lila" was written by an individual, Robert Pirsig. The fact
> that he was influenced by other thinkers is a banal truism.
> Arlo: "Lila" was in many ways shaped by Pirsig's social, cultural and
> philosophical background. The fact that the actual writing of "Lila"
> was undertaken by Pirsig as an individual is a banal truism.
> 
> So, aren't there things you would rather be talking about than banal
> truisms?

The problem I have with Arlo (among others) is summed up by the following  
"truism" from Pirsig. In arguing that it's wrong to kill an individual 
criminal who poses no threat to collective society, he wrote:

"And beyond that is an even more compelling reason; societies and thoughts 
and principles themselves are no more than sets of static patterns.These 
patterns can't by themselves perceive or adjust to Dynamic Quality. Only a 
living being can do that." (Lila, 13)

So, if we subscribe to Arlo's belief that individuals and collectives are 
intertwined in some sort of equal symbiotic relationship like Yin and Yang 
we might as well all pack up and go home because without that individual 
living being responding to DQ, the MOQ becomes just another flat, barren, 
dried up metaphysics. 

Besides, what makes the U.S unique is that its founders believed that 
every citizen had the inalienable right to life, liberty and pursuit of 
happiness, not because it was granted by the collective state, but because 
it was granted by God. This meant for the first time in history that each 
person had an inalienable right to pursue his own ends, not serve as the 
means to the ends of others.

If I didn't think these things were important, I would have given up on 
Arlo long ago. My hope is that somewhere along in our discussions, he will 
see that the response of an individual to DQ is not only what makes the 
MOQ stand out as a metaphysics, but is also what drives the dedication to 
individual opportunity and freedom in the West that millions have died to 
preserve. 

Best,
Platt