[MD] Julian Baggini Interview with Pirsig

[Matt Kundert]

Ham,

Well, maybe I was a bit prickly, but the trouble is that I haven't exactly 
been talking about my general view of the interview, or whether Pirsig 
portrayed himself well, or how Baggini did as an interviewer.  I've 
intimated such things, but phrases like "patently supports" are far too 
extreme to use when describing my thoughts about any number of the other 
issues in the interview, especially considering my fairly nuanced view of 
Pirsig in general.  I think you're glossing way too much and I've had 
trouble in the past with you interpreting me and construing me in really 
weird ways.  I'm not going to tell you to stop talking to me, but I've 
harped about your lack of sensitivity to reading me (and others) before, and 
I'll just keep doing it until you do.

The "First Rule of Philosophy" post was an attempt to not nit-pick the 
interview to death.  In being about moving the conversation forward I was 
trying to move the conversation forward.  I'm not above nit-picking, which 
is what my response to David's question was (and my subsequent response to 
David's second question will be).  But I was responding to a very particular 
question and I still don't think my response carried with it the message 
that I "patently support" Pirsig's response.  I thought it brought out 
pretty clearly that I thought Pirsig's response was more confusing than 
anything else.

I take the interview to be pretty good practice for Pirsigians in 
interpretation (to practice glossing Pirsig's sometimes amiguous answers) 
and in being Pirsigians by imagining what Pirsig should've answered to be 
more clear.  My response to David was both.  I glossed how Pirsig's response 
to substance can make sense and what I thought Pirsig's response should've 
been (which also had textual support in the interview).

Matt

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