[MD] Matt and DMB disagree?

[Matt Kundert]

DMB,

DMB said:
See, it seems to me that you have used the prohibition against ocular 
metaphors as a weapon against mysticism and this was confusing. Now that I 
understand the context in which these terms work, I can see why it was 
confusing. See, you took an anti-realist move and used it against the MOQ's 
notion of direct and immediate experience, effectively attacking a move it 
never makes.

Matt:
Naaah, I still don't think you're right.  I've never attacked mysticism, per 
se.  I do, however, attack certain uses of language, certain metaphors.  For 
instance, the concept of _maya_.  I can't see how that survives.

But the notion of "direct and immediate experience" does lay behind many of 
the problems I have with Pirsigians.  It's not just ocular metaphors that I 
think are a problem, I think spatial metaphors are a problem, too.  I think 
implying there is a distance between us and reality (which the MoQ seems to 
resurrect with its distinction between direct and indirect experience, DQ 
and static patterns) is a problem--reminicent of the subject/object 
distance.

But I've talked about all that before.  Whatever parts of our history aside, 
it's good to see you get into what's going on in philosophy and try and plug 
Pirsig in.  You are too smug, but that's okay.  Maybe some time soon, if I 
have nothing better to do, I'll pull some sections of Rorty, from essays 
that are not "Texts and Lumps" (which only offers a short chatechism of 
Rorty's thoughts about truth, not carefully constructed arguments or 
anything--and which he _does not_ say anything like subjectivism at all, 
that is only something you try and construe).  But in the mean time, I'll 
simply mention that I'm in the midst of writing a reply to your essay for 
the Essay Forum, something to counterbalance and clarify where I see the 
debate between us, between a colligation of Rorty and Pirsig, as actually 
centering.

Matt

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