[MD] The MOQ at Oxford University

[david buchanan]

Lu axed:
 Pardon my ignorance but what is PoMo?


dmb says:
In the arts the term usually used is "postmodernism" and in philosophy it's usually called "postmodernity". In both cases, as you may have guessed, the movement is defined as a response to modernism or modernity. In the arts and in culture generally, it is marked by irony, self-referentiality and a general breakdown of the methods and styles of the enlightenment. In philosophy, it usually constitutes an attack on modern notions of truth and knowledge, which is to say a critique of modern epistemologies. In the case of the MOQ, we find an attack on scientific objectivity and the correspondence theory of truth (where truth is defined as a correspondence between objective reality and our subjective understanding of it).

I think this is hard to pull off without finding yourself in the position of defending relativism or even nihilism. Richard Rorty, for example, held a position that was pretty close to Pirsig's but I don't think he escaped the relativism vortex. Sluuurp. Down the drain. I think Pirsig has found a way to unite art, science and religion whereas postmodern philosophies tend to equalize all three, as Ken Wilber puts it, by shooting them all in the head.

For whatever that's worth,
dmb 
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