[MD] Being a Pirsigian

[Ian Glendinning]

Dave, Matt,

On being a Pirsigian - I agreed already, you ignored the qualification
"having done the above exercise". I was just stating a pragmatic fact
that in our context that's what it means effectively. If people don't
do enough validation, clearly baseless claims undermine existing
understanding. (Not being in the philosophy profession, I'm not
actually all that concerned with definitive definitions, just
pragmatic usefulness.)

On pragmatic truth - your James quote absolutely illustrates my point
- central is the method, the processes, the approach, (dare I say, the
attitude) not the "truth" itself - whatever that is. (And BTW
"whatever" means I'm not that interested in debating a definition - of
truth - a rhetorical question, not a question.)

On DQ and the perennial philosophy - we agree on the beauty of DQ.

Dave, I would turn your own words to 118 back on you - you seem to
prefer to look for disagreements - (which I find very tiresome, but
you're entitled).

Ian
On Sat, Jan 7, 2012 at 5:21 PM, david buchanan <dmbuchanan at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> Ian said:
> "Being" a Pirsigian is a matter of self-identification (having done the above exercise).
>
> dmb says:
> I can't help but think of that moment in Lila's Child wherein Pirsig says that the views held by two self-identified Pirsigians actually work to UNDERMINE the MOQ. As I see it, this moment proves that self-identification is not enough. It demonstrates that a person can be wrong about these things.
>
>
> Ian said:
> Not sure I would say truth is central to pragmatism - but that would just be embarking on another debate on what we mean by truth.
>
> dmb says:
> I'm fairly certain that you are mistaken on this point. Pragmatism is a theory of truth. It's not an assertion about the truth of any particular contents. It "stands for no particular results", as James puts it. "It is a method only", he says. It's a method of determining what counts as "true". It is a theory of truth.
>
>
> Ian said:
> I would however agree totally, that the key to being Pirsigian is DQ - not just understanding / appreciating it, but it, being it. Almost every other aspect is some re-working of assorted perennial philosophies - many a recursive loop.
>
>
> dmb says:
> Well, the MOQ synthesizes a whole lot of things that can be found elsewhere scattered throughout philosophy and the total vision adds up to a version of the perennial philosophy. But DQ is unique to Pirsig and the MOQ is built around that undefined term. It is original and yet it incorporates and preserves a ton of great ideas and traditions. It's fresh and yet it fits with some very ancient wisdom. That's the beauty of it.
>
>
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