[MD] Probability

[ian glendinning]

Platt you shoot yourself in the foot with your Pirsig quote, and I
quote selectively

"... empirical reality FROM WHICH SUCH THINGS .... ARE LATER
CONSTRUCTED BY INTELLECT ...."

Quality may be "absolute" even empirical, but it is ephemeral, all the
things we talk about in the real world are constructs, expressed
symbolically, even Pirsig says it.

That is an "absolute fact" in the pragmatic sense that Arlo explains
yet again. No prizes for pointing out the paradox in our use of
symbolic language ... we appreciate that. That's life.

Ian

On 7/16/06, Platt Holden <pholden at davtv.com> wrote:
> Ian:
>
> > Platt - you may still hold to the existence of some absolute truth
> > (wherever you got it from, it certainly wasn't Pirsig) but surely you
> > can see that the "expressions" of that truth in the real world are
> > contextual. A court of law is just one such context.
>
> Funny you should ask, but I did get the existence of absolute certainty
> from Pirsig, as in:
>
> "But that the quality is low is absolutely certain. It is the primary
> empirical reality from which such things as stoves and heat and oaths
> and self are later intellectually constructed."
>
> and
>
> "A culture that supports the dominance of social values over biological
> values is an absolutely superior culture to one that does not, and a
> culture that supports the dominance of intellectual values over social
> values is absolutely superior to one that does not."
>
>  . . . and in other places among  the writings of our esteemed leader.
>
> As for "context" I gather that you consider it to be an absolute. :-)
>
> Platt
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