[MD] The Moral Landscape and Thee

[david buchanan]

dmb said to Steve:
It seems to me that Pirsig's solution to this intellectual emergency would be of interest to Sam Harris, to say the least. Would you be interested in drafting a letter to Sam explaining how the MOQ might serve his project? Maybe we could all do it together, as a group project. Who knows, maybe it would actually make a positive difference. Maybe it'll actually introduce some quality into the public debate about morality. Pun intended.



dmb adds:

As soon as I sent the last post it occurred to me that I don't have time to read Sam's book. Not that you agreed to draft any letter or asked for any help doing so, but IF you're game I'd like to help. So here's what I was thinking...

The letter is more likely to be taken seriously if it is a direct response to specific points raised by Harris. In other words, it should address his particular concerns. So maybe the first task would be to identify and extract the central points. Maybe somebody else has the time to read Harris's latest book and could help with that part. Once the key passages have been posted, the ones that ask for a way to get beyond the fact-value distinction or the separation of science and morality, we can work up some replies as a group. That's the part where I'd like to help. I'd like to be among those who help to identify and extract the Pirsig quotes that would make sense as an answer to Sam's concerns. 


Think about what it might do for your Blog, eh? In terms of getting noticed in the blogosphere, it might be pretty fabulous. 

Yes, I'm appealing to your ego as well as your moral reasoning. I'm not above that sort of thing.