[MD] Dawkins a Materialist (is watching?)

[ARLO J BENSINGER JR]

[Case previously]
The survivors see it that way because they are the ones still surviving.

[Platt]
Circular?

[Case]
Possibly. It is called the Circle of Life.

[Arlo]
Actually, it reveals the "after-the-factedness" of "purpose". It is only
something we apply afterwards, mostly to give us a warm and fuzzy feeling of
importance.

[Platt]
Sounds like the point is to just run around in circles, going nowhere for no
reason.

[Arlo]
Case's "the purpose of live is keep the fire burning" is no more circular than
your tautological "the purpose of life is to live". And Case's too, like
Stephen's, is an activity "in the now" purpose. It is about what we do, not why
we are. "We exist so that we can exist" conveys nothing, and is a futile
purpose. Both Case's and Stephen's suggestions say more, and are not doomed to
failure by their own words.

[Platt]
What did Pirsig say about such a worldview? "From the perspective of a
subject-object science, the world is a completely purposeless, valueless place.
...

[Arlo]
I don't think Case ever said the world is purposeless or valueless (but I
appreciate the sly, rhetorical tactic). I think he's said, or I would say, that
"purpose" and "value" arise from activity not because we were
preplanned/designed by some "transcendent intelligence".