[MD] Taking words Seriously

[Matt Kundert]

Marsha quoted from Pirsig:
"I also have a concern of my own. This is the concern that 
philosophers, instead of coming to grips with the philosophy at hand, 
sometimes dismiss it by saying, “Oh he is saying the same as 
someone else,” or “someone else has said it much better.” This is the 
latter half of the well known conservative argument that some new 
idea is (a) no good because it hasn't been heard it before or (b) it is 
no good because it has been heard before. If, as has been noted by 
R.C. Zaehner, once the Oxford University Professor of Eastern 
Religions and Ethics, I am saying the same thing as Aristotle; and if, 
as has been noted in the Harvard Educational Review, I am saying the 
same thing as William James; and if as has been noted now that I 
may be saying the same thing as Spinoza: then why has no one ever 
noticed that Aristotle and Spinoza and William James are all saying 
the same thing?"      
(RMP, 'A brief summary of the Metaphysics of Quality")

Matt:
Yes, that is an ironic zinger to what Dave just said, but I always find 
myself cringing when I hear Pirsig talk this way.  I've never been 
impressed with Pirsig's philosophology sections in Lila and after, and 
mainly because it just seems to misunderstand what professional 
philosophy is good for.  For example, such dismissals as "someone's 
said it" or "someone hasn't" are never real responses in the 
community.  At most, they are expressions of the fact that it hasn't 
been made clear to the expresser why time and energy should be 
spent "coming to grips with the philosophy at hand."  The longer 
history marches forward, the more philosophy gets thrown out there 
to come to grips with.  Is it a bad mode of expressing, "I don't have 
time to properly deal with your arguments because it isn't clear 
there's any profit for me to do so--after all, I do have my own 
philosophy to get to"?  Probably.  And not many people do use it, at 
least people we should take seriously (in my experience).

What's worse about that particular comment is that it shows Pirsig's 
own limitations as a scholar of philosophy.  People _have_ noticed 
the similarities between Aristotle, Spinoza, and James.  Does Pirsig 
_need_ to be a good scholar?  No, of course not.  But we shouldn't 
take seriously bad arguments even when they come from our 
heroes.

Matt