[MD] George Steiner interview (Andre)

[david]

John M said:
...I can think of two self-imposed limitations of the MOQ: 1.	Its deliberate avoidance of theistic language constrains it.  How can you talk about absolute reality without using the language of Absolute Reality? 2.	It remains open-ended. ...if "open-ended" is taken to mean "end of story; that's all there is", then that's self-imposed limitation.



dmb says:
2.)  I don't see how "open-ended" could rightly be taken to mean "end of story". That's exactly what "open-ended" does NOT mean.

1.) Pirsig shows us how to talk about absolute reality without using language at all. He insists that Quality, the source and substance of everything and the primary empirical reality, remain undefined. This is consistent with the belief that all philosophical mystics share in common; that reality is outside of language. And the rejection of theistic conceptions of God is consistent with this refusal to define Quality. It's also consistent with his claim that only a mystic can equate Quality with God. 
That's a major factor is keeping things open ended and, as the DeWeeses still like to say, "evolution takes forever". So the MOQ is open-ended even as a static intellectual construct. So I do not understand how the avoidance of theistic language is constraining. Why do you think it is?