[MD] Julian Baggini interview

[Squonkonguitar at aol.com]

Mark Maxwell 1-11-06: Hello Anthony.

Ant McWatt  comments:

Hello Ian.  :-)
 
Mark 1-11-06: Hello Anthony.
Hello Ian? Hello Mark surely?

Mark Maxwell continued:

No  wonder i missed the interview on your site. One can easily  visit
robertpirsig.org and leave with no idea there ever was an interview  with 
Robert
Pirsig in The Philosophy Magazine (TPM).

TPM is a  respected philosophical source and i should have thought it to be a
superb  advert for the MOQ to be associated with a high profile publication 
as
a  measure of the MOQ’s expanding reach. However:

There is no reference to  the TPM interview on robertpirsig.org.
There is no link to the full TPM  transcript either.
Neither TPM or Baggini are referenced as primary sources  in the essay you
edited, which is a bit odd considering your academic  training.

Ant McWatt notes:

This is because the MOQ Summary  ultimately comes from a number of e-mails 
sent to me by Robert Pirsig.   These e-mails (together with some photographs 
of Pirsig) were then forwarded  on by me to Baggini for the material found in 
“The Philosophy Magazine” and  its related website.
 
Mark 1-11-06: I've got the timeline all to cock here.
You see, i thought Baggini interviewed Pirsig off his own bat for his own  
magazine, and then offered you the transcript for robertpirsig.org.
I didn't know the Baggini interview is a fake interview compiled from  
correspondence between you and Pirsig intended for an MoQ summery essay, which  was 
then passed on to Baggini.
In this case, it is Baggini who should reference you! No problems.

Mark Maxwell continued:

The full transcript is about three times  longer. (Questions give it a flow
and tension between Baggini's position and  MOQ responses. This is a rare
event.)  At one point in the full  transcript Pirsig acknowledges his 
approval of the
questions and the  manner in which they are being asked. If Pirsig approved 
of
the medium i  can't understand why it isn't available, whole, or as a  link,
on  robertpirsig.org.

Ant McWatt comments:

That approval of Pirsig’s  came early on with Baggini’s initial questions.
 
Mark 1-11-06: How can Baggini ask questions if the Pirsig material was  
passed onto him by you?
 
However, Pirsig and myself eventually concluded (after the whole  interview 
was completed) that the underlying attitude behind many of  Baggini’s 
questions wasn’t very positive.  Hence, their absence from  robertpirsig.org.
 
Mark 1-11-06: If the MoQ is going to make it it's going to have to face  it's 
fair share of negative attitudes.
Personally, i found it very useful to observe and learn how Pirsig disarms  
such attitudes. The more strategies available the better. Surely?
 
 As Horse put it to me, the interview reminded him too much of the  
interviews of  Jonathon Ross (a British TV interviewer who tends to be  more 
interested in listening to himself) rather than Michael Parkinson (a  British 
TV interviewer who tends to be more interested in listening to his  guests).  
It’s a pity the interview turned out that way though I did  enjoy reading 
many of Pirsig’s responses.
 
Mark 1-11-06: You will observe that, Wossy' is scared shitless by guests  
such as Paul O'Grady (a quick-witted scouser) who make Wossy look like the  
talentless git he is. In short, Wossy behaves himself in the glaring light of  real 
talent. In my view, Pirsig played O'Grady to Baggini's Wossy. Well done Sir  
i say, because in the process, the MoQ was shown to have explanatory  force.

Mark Maxwell noted:

Anyone wishing to see the whole  transcript easily and for free is being
denied the opportunity.

Ant  McWatt comments:

The Baggini interview is easily found via Google and, I  said previously, 
there is nothing else of philosophical interest in the  e-mails that the 
interview was derived from.  However, as a compromise,  maybe Horse can host 
the “complete transcript” at moq.org which I can then  put a link to from 
robertpirsig.org.  This would then prevent the  duplication of the material 
in the MOQ Summary (which did take considerable  time to prepare) on the same 
website.

Mark concluded:

Thanks  for clearing things up.

Ant McWatt comments:

My pleasure  Mark.

Best wishes,

Anthony.
 
Mark 1-11-06: Well, things have got a bit more murky regarding who did  what 
and when and perhaps more importantly why?
But if Pirsig agrees to all this then there we have it.
Love,
Mark