[MD] New Pirsig Interview with the Times

[david buchanan]

Ant, Marsha, Ian and all:

Marsha quoted from the article:
"Now, Pirsig believes that he has one last shot at explaining his philosophy 
to the public, and if it means coming out of seclusion, so be it.

Ant commented:
I think that phrase is in particular reference to the Times interview 
itself.

dmb says:
Are you saying that Pirsig is going back into seclusion? Are you saying he 
won't be attending the celebrity roast at the Playboy Mansion next weekend? 
Hef is gonna be really pissed when he hears about this. And the bunnies will 
surely weep. But seriously, the article sure didn't hurt. There is just 
enough info to tempt potential readers with the prospect of learning 
something about "enlightenment". He's very nearly saying that ZAMM is only 
half the story. Ha! I hope that moves some books off the shelf. And this 
time the article actually made reference to "quality".  It was also good to 
see Pirsig say a little about good and evil.

Ian said:
Excellent to see the interview and Bob's enthusiasm about the re-release of 
Lila, but also the upcoming book by David Granger.

dmb says:
Yea, and it sure doesn't hurt that the name "Robert Pirsig" is actually in 
the title of the book. I'm pretty psyched about this connection to Dewey for 
personal reasons. As it turns out, there is a philosophy professor at the 
University of Colorado at Denver who sort of specializes in Dewey and 
Pragmatism. I was encouraged by a paper in which he attacks Rorty's brand of 
neo-Pragmatism for exactly the same reason I had; he ignores the empiricism 
of Dewey and James. He claims that Rorty's big mistake is to dismiss the 
"radical empiricism" of William James. As you can imagine, I definately plan 
on signing up for his classes. And the head of the Department is a Habermas 
expert and has co-written a book in which he is hooked up with Pragmatism in 
a way that also is critical of Rorty, at least in part. I am just loving it! 
Feels like the gods are helping out.

The only thing that bugs me is that the article did not mention Ant McWatt's 
thesis. Its the world's first and only. How is it that this remarkable fact 
didn't even get mentioned? Maybe because mentioning Pirsig's attendance at 
the graduation ceremony and conference in Liverpool would have defied the 
article's "reclusive novelist" narrative. Maybe a letter to the editor 
requesting a correction would produce more free publicity. Maybe it should 
say a few words about Pirsig's perspective on "celebrity" as Zen Hell and 
how that view does NOT mean that Pirsig dislikes people.

And now, for a for a very brief description of the hero's journey...

“As I see these two books,” Pirsig says, drawing an oval on a
>notepad, “there is a Zen circle. You start here with Zen,” he says, marking 
>an X, “and then you go here to enlightenment, that’s what’s called 180 Zen.
>
>“Then you go back to where you started from — that’s 360 Zen — and the 
>world is exactly as it was when you left it.” Pirsig sits back and lets 
>that sink in, then adds: “Well, I felt that Zen and the Art of Motorcycle 
>Maintenance was the journey out, and Lila was this trip back.”

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