[MD] Taking words Seriously

[X Acto]

Hello Matt,
Matt said:
 I refuse to just 
assume, anymore, that I know what people are talking about.  And 
I want to refrain, as much as I can, such external diagnostics of a 
position, .....(snip)....The most I get is the feeling that because I don't use the 
same vocabulary to do philosophy as Pirsig or James or Dewey or 
whoever, I'm thereby getting them wrong.  But that just seems to 
me a bad understanding of how philosophy is in fact done.  And 
then I get blamed for not knowing how philosophy is done.  (More 
or less.)

Ron:
And I think that speaks to the sort of style and literary backround you posess as well
as your approach to Philosophy, which I find unique in the way of it having a living
element of inquiry to tease out a Philosophic topic of conversation.
Often academically it's not the usual course but thats not to say "thats not how
philosophy is done" it just to say that it's an unusual style of Philosophic
conversation that doesent necessarily defend a particular point of view.
Which is often the case in dialectical fashion here.

As far as DQ, you captured my conception of it quite adequatly, whether or not
you agree with it, or, it coincides with Pirsigs formulations seems almost secondary
to that. I feel it links enough of Pirsigs ideas to qualify as within his line of thinking
for my own acceptance and , hopefully, it seemed to breed a new direction of discussion
which you seemed interested in. I think this aspect held the most promise.


Ron said:
The problem that you and Dave share is well beyond anything I could 
even suggest. Matt, you often take a rather complex read to uncover 
the subleties of your meaning whereas Dave is more direct. If 
anything I could add, this would be the primary distiction in your 
styles of discussion.

Matt:
I'm not sure I catch the difference.  If you're saying I write densely 
and precisely--such that I want to articulate to my reader that there 
is one thing I mean here and not a myriad of other possibilities--then 
yes, that's what I'm hoping I do.  It's not that I hope it takes people 
forever to figure out what the hell I'm saying, but I do hope that 
people paying attention get paid for the attention they've given.

Ron:
Ah, this was what I was meaning, that one must really pay attention
to what you are actually saying rather than jumping to the conclusion
that might be imagined you are driving at which often happens in conversation.
One must dedicate the time to thoughtfully consider your exact meaning and often
it is worth investing in. Again it seems to be a matter of style which speaks about
the intent and aim of how one "does" philosophy.

Sometimes styles conflict and one another are confused as to what the other
is getting at with the conversation. 


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