[MD] Quality and the Higgs Field: An Analogy

[Ham Priday]

Greetings, J-A --


On Wed, Feb 2, 2011, 2:29AM, "Jan-Anders" <jananderses at telia.com> wrote:


> Thanks Ham and Mark
>
> Appreciate reading your posts.  Existentialism has been
> a nice tool in my metaphysical toolbox for a long time.

Just to set the record straight, none of us is talking about Existentialism. 
That was the philosophy of Hegel and Heidegger, popularized by Sartre 
['Being and Nothingness'],
whose premise was "existence precedes essence".  My 
ontology--Essentialism--stands in direct opposition to Existentialism.  It 
is founded on an uncreated primary source (Essence) from which space/time 
existence is derived by negation.

> I equate the Higgs field with the pattern of Essence and of Quality.
> Or just the beginning of gospel of St John: "In the beginning was
> the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
>
> Flat dog ... no Good.

There is no question that followers of Judeo-Christianity believe God is 
their uncreated source.  The question I have for the MoQists is: Is Quality 
your God?  I ask this because, epistemologically, there can be no quality 
without a conscious agent.  Which means that Pirsig's Quality cannot be the 
primary source, hence cannot be man's creator.

>From my perspective, it is the human individual who determines what is 
'Good' and establishes a social morality to support this value.  Mark, on 
the other hand, rejects the need for a primary source and posits Quality as 
the creator and differentiator of existence.  I view this ontology as 
illogical and nihilistic, since it avoids the first principle of 
metaphysics: A primary Source is essential because 'Nothing can come from 
nothingness.'  It also slights the most significant power man possesses--the 
freedom to choose (and act on) his own values.

Aside from speculative conclusions based on physical theories such as Higgs 
Field, where do you stand on this metaphysical issue?

I appreciate your interest in this discussion, J-A, and look forward to your 
contributions.

--Ham