[MD] The End of Faith Ethics

[Steve Peterson]

"If science is a study of substances and their relationships, then the 
field of cultural anthropology is a scientific absurdity. In terms of 
substance there is no such thing as a culture. It has no mass, no 
energy. No scientific laboratory instrument has ever been devised that 
can distinguish a culture from a non-culture.

But if science is a study of stable patterns of value, then cultural 
anthropology becomes a supremely scientific field. A culture can be 
defined as a network of social patterns of value."



On Jan 29, 2008, at 3:14 PM, pholden at davtv.com wrote:

> Quoting Steven Peterson <stevenkpeterson at mac.com>:
>
>> Platt:
>>> Study happiness and suffering scientifically? I have no idea what 
>>> that
>>> means, but it has a Orwellian flavor. After all, Pirsig makes the 
>>> point
>>> repeatedly that the trouble with science is that it ethically it has
>>> nothing to offer.
>>
>> He is criticizing SOM science. Pirsig redifines science as studying 
>> stable
>> patterns of value. In that case, only DQ can't be studied 
>> scientifically.
>
> Hi Steve,
>
> Pirsig redefines science as the study of social and intellectual 
> patterns of
> value? That's news to me. Can you cite a reference?
>
>> Why can't behaviors or attitudes that lead to happiness or suffering 
>> be studied?
>
> You can study whatever you want. In fact, you can find a study to back 
> up most
> anything you want to believe. The question is, how do you know when 
> the study
> is valid? Lots of studies showed eugenics would bring happiness to 
> humanity.
>
> Regards,
> Platt
>
>
>
>
>
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