[MD] Correctness and Usefulness

[Ham Priday]

Hi Platt --



> Pirsig's moral hierarchy is more of a guide than a hard
> and fast list of rights and wrongs. But, "morality designed
> into the universe?"  OK -- as a foil to your ontology.

You see, I don't believe that.  I believe morality is an intellectual 
synthesis of what philosophers have called the "common good".  It's a 
pragmatic system devised by man to accommodate a diversity of social values 
with minimal harm to the individual.  The Golden Rule is a moralistic maxim. 
So is Kant's categorical imperative: "Act only according to that maxim 
whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal 
law."  Both are "rational" solutions to the antagonism and violence that can 
result from conflicting values.  Conversely, while collective behavior 
enforced by empirical decree, religious law, or involuntary servitude may 
result in a "moral society", the restriction of individual freedom is 
immoral.  Hence the need for reason to mediate the free expression of value.

> No argument with "an infinite variety of perspectives" as
> witness this very site, not to mention socialists, communists,
> fascists and other collectivist totalitarian perspectives.

Of course setting up a moral maxim for the world community, whose members 
are indoctinated into cultural traditions and canonic laws that subjugate 
the individual, is putting the cart before the horse.  The first challenge 
for the new millennium is to work toward a metaphysical perspective that 
will facilitate a universal "belief system".  That perspective must offer a 
plausible answer to the questions 'Why are we here?' and 'What is our role 
in existence?'

We can live by moral precepts if we truly value human life.  Unfortunately, 
we are presently confronting a fertile culture for whom the only accepted 
value is the Will of Allah.  We also have to deal with totalitarian nations 
who don't respect individual freedom.  Our international policy thus far has 
been to "impose democracy" on intractable "hot spots" of violence, an 
approach that our own history has shown to be ineffectual.  Freedom cannot 
be imposed on a society by external force.  Liberty is inspired by 
individuals who value freedom and are willing to fight for it.  The people 
of Islam will eventually reform their inhumane ideology.  Meantime, the Free 
World nations will have to redouble their vigilance against attempts by the 
power-mad hordes to establish a global caliphate.

> Can you explain the difference between value motivation
> and its relation to behavior per se? Seems to me the two
> are intimately connected as cause (motivation) and effect
> (behavior).

In a strictly objective (mechanical) sense, behavior is the effect of 
motivation.  Practically speaking, however, behavior can be trained (e.g, 
"Uto come here!"), enforced by punishment/reward strategies, or left to 
animal instinct.  Humans are protected by instinctual response mechanisms 
when facing danger, but are far more likely to respond to their 
value-sensibilities when choosing to act.  Since value is sensed 
pre-intellectually, it is a more fundamental (i.e., reliable) indicator of 
one's relation to Essence or one's psycho-physical status than an 
intellectual judgment.  In fact, I would venture to say that sensibility is 
primary to reason as a motivational factor.

> Ability to "exercise freedom" in order to express and act on
> "value sensibilities" appears to be a basic moral principle of
> Essentialism. That which inhibits the ability is immoral, that
> which enhances the ability is moral.  Would that be a fair
> description of a moral stance required by Essence?

Yes, except for the "required by" qualification.  There are no requirements 
for value-sensibility other than the willingness to attend to it.  Perhaps 
that's what the mystics mean by "the stillness of the soul":

    "The Tao is in all things.
     Total simplification of your life is realizing that.
     There is no advanced course in awareness, only the stillness.
     It is in the stillness of your soul that you will connect the Tao to 
all things."
                           -- John MacEnulty, (Eman8tions)

Cheers and Peace,
Ham