[MD] Julian Baggini Interview with Pirsig

[David M]

DMB

That sounds a fair appraisal to me.
When you go to school, take a look at phenomenology
post-Heidegger, maybe start with Merleau-Ponty because
there are close connections between Pirsig and
phenomenological attempts to describe experience as it
is and without SOM assumptions. Pirsig can offer a
good map, the phenomenologists have been exploring
the territory without its help. See some of the phenomenology
stuff here for example:

http://consc.net/people.html#causation

DM


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "david buchanan" <dmbuchanan at hotmail.com>
To: <moq_discuss at moqtalk.org>
Sent: Saturday, January 14, 2006 10:08 PM
Subject: Re: [MD] Julian Baggini Interview with Pirsig


> Howdy MOQers:
>
>
> In response to Julian's interview, Matt said: "so apparently I'll be 
> playing
> the role of _Julien_...."
>
> (interview is at 
> http://www.philosophersnet.com/magazine/article.php?id=980
> Thanks, Ian.)
>
> dmb says:
> Yep. The interviewer certainly reminds me of Matt. I guess I can take some
> comfort in the realization that its not just me. Apparently, conversations
> between philosophologists and regular people are bound to be condused and
> are destined for a stand off. Here is one of my favorite slices of the
> interview. Baggini has asked Pirsig to "locate" the MOQ "in the history of
> philosophy". Pirsig replies....
>
> "The Metaphysics of Quality is not intended to be within any philosophic
> tradition, although obviously it was not written in a vacuum. My first
> awareness that it resembled James's work came from a magazine review long
> after Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was published. The
> Metaphysics of Quality's central idea that the world is nothing but value 
> is
> not part of any philosophic tradition that I know of."
>
> The interviewer persists with this philosophological approach in various
> ways until Pirsig finally says...
>
> "If, as has been noted by RC Zaehner, once the Oxford University Professor
> of Eastern Religions and Ethics, I am saying the same thing as Aristotle;
> and if, as has been noted in the Harvard Educational Review, I am saying 
> the
> same thing as William James; and if, as has been noted now, I may be 
> saying
> the same thing as Spinoza: then why has no one ever noticed that Aristotle
> and Spinoza and William James are all saying the same thing?"
>
> I think this is some kind of beautiful judo, a devastating zinger that 
> uses
> the views of well-credentialed philosophologist to show how absurd
> philosophology can be. And its not as if comparisons don't help, but
> academic philosophology seems to instill a tendency to put round pegs and
> square holes and otherwise force inappropriate comparisons. I mean, what's
> the deal with Doc Zaehner? Aristotle? Aristotle is refered to as an
> "asshole" in ZAMM. This doesn't exactly invite comparsions, you know. I
> think Pirsig has found a humorous and polite way to say, "Look pal, it
> doesn't add up and I already told you its not my thing." Sad thing is, 
> there
> probably is a thesis out there somewhere that says Aristotle, Spinoza and
> James WERE all saying the same thing.
>
> Oddly, when Pirsig DOES invite more relevant comparisons (Plotinus, Lao 
> Tsu
> and Northrop), the interviewer doesn't bother with it for a moment. Just
> blows it off. Drops it. Aaargh. Why in the world would any interviewer 
> fail
> to ask? Reading the interview was an exercise in frustration, but it was
> also helpful for personal reasons. It was frustrating in the sense that it
> didn't ever get at the MOQ itself. But it did help to illuminate the 
> trouble
> I've been having talking to Matt - and the kind of trouble I'm likely to
> encounter if I go back to school.
>
> Later,
> dmb
>
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