[MD] The Roots of Freedom

[david buchanan]

Jon said:
The issues of political freedom, the respect for human rights, including women's rights and civil rights did not emerge from such a world view as the moq, and it is indeed alien to the recognition of such rights.

dmb says:

Well, the ideas about human rights and political freedom emerged from Enlightenment philosophers. The MOQ supports these ideas quite vigorously and explicitly, although for different reasons than the original thinkers might have. "Freedom of speech; freedom of assembly, of travel; trial by jury; habeas corpus; government by consent - these 'human rights' are all intellectual-vs-society issues. According to the Metaphysics of Quality these 'human rights' have not just a sentimental basis, but a rational, metaphysical basis. They are essential to the evolution of a higher level of life from a lower level of life. They are for real." (Lila 307)
Jon said:
I'm sure many on the list are familiar with the work of Joseph Campbell. his work is very supportive of Eastern thought, and Prisig's views. Surely you will admit he is knowledgeable of the cultures and myths of the world, and is an expert in comparative mythology.


dmb says:

Yea, I'm a big fan. In Lila, Pirsig recommend's Joseph Campbell's "Masks of God". He says if you really want to understand what the social level is all about, that's the book to read. Notice how Campbell echoes what Pirsig just said about rights and freedom where he says, "they are the truly great "new thing" that we do indeed represent to the world and that constitutes our Occidental revelation of a properly human spiritual ideal, true to the highest potentiality of our species".



Jon said:

You have these freedoms because you were seen as created in the very image of God. And you were endowed by your Creator with these rights because your life was seen as sacred. Not a static, certainly not a dynamic pattern, but a child of the living God. That is the source of freedom, personal and political.



dmb says:


Definitely disagree with you there. As you just saw, Pirsig thinks that our rights and freedoms have a rational, evolutionary basis. The MOQ is not theistic generally and in some ways it is even anti-theistic. Based on your apparent commitments to such beliefs, I suspect you won't find much comfort in the MOQ. 


















 		 	   		  
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