Pirsig's metaphysics of quality

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The metaphysics of quality (MOQ) is a theory of reality introduced in Pirsig's philosophical novel Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974) and expanded in Lila: An Inquiry into Morals (1991). The MOQ incorporates facets of East Asian philosophy, Pragmatism, the work of F. S. C. Northrop and Indigenous American philosophy. Pirsig argues that the MOQ is a better lens through which to view reality than the traditional dualistic subjective/objective mindset.

1 Development
2 Quality
- 2.1 Static and Dynamic qualities
  - 2.1.1 Dynamic Quality
  - 2.1.2 Static quality patterns
3 See also
4 Books
5 External links

[edit] Development

Pirsig began college as a chemistry student, and dropped out after concluding that the ultimate answers to life were not to be found in science. He soon began to look to philosophy to search for answers. In 1950, while studying philosophy at Banaras Hindu University, Pirsig came across the Sanskrit doctrine of Tat tvam asi -- in his words, "Thou art that, which asserts that everything you think you are (Subjective) and everything you think you perceive (Objective) are undivided. To fully realize this lack of division is to become enlightened." The nature of mystical experience plays an underlying role throughout his work.

In the late 1950s, Pirsig taught Rhetoric at a Montana State University and, with the encouragement from an older colleague, decided to explore what exactly was meant by the term Quality. He assigned his students the task of defining the word good. This, coupled with a Native American Church peyote ceremony he attended with an anthropologist friend, James Verne Dusenberry, led Pirsig into what he called "a mushroom cloud of thought."^{[citation needed]} Pirsig began developing his ideas about Quality in his first book, Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and expanded and codified his ideas into the MOQ in Lila.

[edit] Quality

"Quality", or "value" as described by Pirsig, cannot be defined because it empirically precedes any intellectual constructions. It is the "knife-edge" of experience, known to all. "What distinguishes good and bad writing? Do we need to ask this question of Lysias or anyone else who ever did write anything?" (Plato's Phaedrus, 258d). Likening it with the Tao, Pirsig believes that Quality is the fundamental force in the universe stimulating everything from atoms to animals to evolve and incorporate ever greater levels of Quality. According to the MOQ, everything (including mind, ideas and matter) is a product and a result of Quality.

[edit] Static and Dynamic qualities

The MOQ divides Quality into two forms: static quality patterns (patterned) and Dynamic Quality (unpatterned). The four patterns of static value as well as Dynamic Quality account exhaustively for all of reality. As the initial (cutting edge) Dynamic Quality become habituated, it turns into static patterns. It is important to note that Pirsig is not proposing a duality: Quality is one, yet manifests itself differently.

[edit] Dynamic Quality

Dynamic Quality includes everything not static. Dynamic Quality is the force of change in the universe; when this aspect of Quality becomes habitual or customary it becomes static. Pirsig called Dynamic Quality "the pre-intellectual cutting edge of reality" because it can be recognized before one can think about it. What does it mean ? Quality lies in the moment we sense anything during the instantenous present; with a short delay we give this impression a static form by describing it as emotion, thing, word etc. These static forms, if they have enough good or bad quality, are given names and are interchanged with other people, building the base of knowledge for a culture. So some cultures divide between things other cultures perceive as equal (Pirsig give as example the sounds of the Indian syllabels "dha" and "da" which are absolutely equal for western ears) and some cultures haven't any words for a specific meaning at all (The exact meaning of the German word "verklemmt" cannot be translated in English). It also explains that the Dynamic beauty of a piece of music can be recognised before reading any static analysis explaining why the music is beautiful.

[edit] Static quality patterns

Pirsig defines static quality as everything that can be conceptualized or recognized as forming patterns. Pirsig further divides static quality into inorganic, biological, social and intellectual patterns.

Inorganic patterns: non-living things
Biological patterns: living things
Social patterns: behaviours, habits.
Intellectual patterns: ideas

Pirsig describes evolution as the moral progression of these patterns of value. For example, a biological pattern overcoming an inorganic pattern (e.g. bird flight which overcomes gravity) is a moral thing because a biological pattern is a higher form of evolution. Likewise an intellectual pattern of value overcoming a social one (e.g. Civil Rights) is a moral development because intellect is a higher form of evolution than society.

Pirsig claimed that the traditional Subject Object Metaphysics (SOM) of Western philosophy and science is problematic because it does not clearly recognize the superior morality of intellect over society and society over biology by its artificial distancing of the subject from the object, of fact from value. Pirsig claims that it is the conflict between the newly dominant intellectual patterns and the (previously dominant) social patterns which have led to many of the problems of the 20th century.

[edit] See also

[edit] Books

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values (1974) ISBN 0-06-095832-4
Lila: An Inquiry into Morals (1991) ISBN 0-553-29961-1
Guidebook to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by R. DiSanto and T. J. Steele (1990) ISBN 0-688-06069-2
A Critical Analysis of Robert Pirsig's Metaphysics of Quality by Anthony McWatt (2004) - for details, see link below.