[MD] A fly in the MOQ ointment

[David Thomas]

Bo,
> [Bo]
> Right Phaedrus' (ZAMM) target was "rationality" or SOM, which he
> called "intellect" in the proto-moq,

Here are the only instances of the word "intellect" being used in ZaMM.

ZaMM- Pg 19:"My own opinion is that the intellect of modern man isn¹t that
superior. IQs aren¹t that much different. Those Indians and medieval men
were just as intelligent as we are, but the context in which they thought
was completely different. Within that context of thought, ghosts and spirits
are quite as real as atoms, particles, photons and quants are to a modern
man. In that sense I believe in ghosts. Modern man has his ghosts and
spirits too, you know."

ZaMM- Pg 77: Kant¹s metaphysics thrilled Phædrus at first, but later it
dragged and he didn¹t know exactly why. He thought about it and decided that
maybe it was the Oriental experience. He had had the feeling of escape from
a prison of intellect, and now this was just more of the prison again.

Perhaps you can explain how from these two examples how any rational person
can arrive at your conclusion that "Phaedrus called rationality or
subject/object metaphysics "intellect"?

>[ZaMM]
> "The Metaphysics of Quality says that science's empirical rejection
> of biological and social values is not only rationally correct, it
> is also morally correct because the intellectual patterns of science
> are of a higher evolutionary order than the old biological and
> social patterns. 

>[Bo]
>He speaks of  "...the intellectual patterns of science ..." as if there are
>other non-scientific or irrational intellectual patterns, but that's absurd.

Based on the following quote:

> [Lila -pg 79]
> Third, there were moral codes that established the supremacy of the
> intellectual order over the social order - democracy, trial by jury, freedom
> of speech, freedom of the press.

What are you going to claim?
That democracy, trial by jury, freedom of speech, freedom of the press are:
 
Absurd?
Irrational?
Intellectual patterns of science?
Not intellectual patterns but intellectual moral codes? (Best choices but it
still won't help you. The codes are intellectual patterns too because the
whole metaphysics of quality is a metaphysics which is an intellectual
pattern of quality)
Or are you going to claim that once again that Pirsig is mistaken.

>Bo
> The MOQ must NOT appear as a mysticism.....

We do agree here in that the MoQ's ties to mysticism and mysticism ties to
both religion and the occult are significant problems. Much more significant
than the relationship of the intellectual level to the other levels.

Agreeably yours
Dave