Quality Chat with Ian Glendinning - The Pirsig Space Yesterday, Today and Coming up 

All good models describe reality in a way we can recognize

I am so pleased to hear that!

Yes, I remember we discussed that!

Let me get a little bit more clear about it, and I'll announce it soon. I think it might be more like a meetup around the establishment exhibit, but I'll let you know

Tell us more about downplaying those issues in Lila

@tyexistence4842 He quotes someone in ZAMM saying everyone is either a Platonist or an Aristotelian. Phaedrus being a Platonist, Robert being an Aristotelian. Ian is evidently more of an Aristotelian. We don't know if Phaedrus fails Lila in the end, but his intended cure was a kind of spiritual absolute state, let's say like Platonic Idealism, but worth noting the same state that sent Phaedrus over the edge in ZAMM. If Robert in ZAMM was trying to open up this Idealism, Phaedrus was trying to moor it, despite the characters representing the opposite. This is not a contradiction, rather the impetuous for each character's struggle. The annotations Pirsig provided McWatt makes his dislike for Idealism and vague spirituality very clear. I suspect this has more to do with wrestling philosophology than his true opinions might be after a couple of drinks. Anyway, I think you can see LILA as Robert try to pull a Platonic Phaedrus back to an Aristotelian reality.

@@aqualityexistence4842 testing

​@@aqualityexistence4842 In ZAMM, Pirsig quoted someone saying everyone is either a Platonist or an Aristotelian. By these terms, in both books Phaedrus was more a Platonic Idealist, whereas Robert and Ian here more like Aristotelian engineers. Although the characters have their essential type, their direction in the novels goes in the opposite direction. Robert is trying to open up this Idealism in ZAMM, whereas Phaedrus is trying to moor his Idealism to something solid. The annotations provided for McWatt make Pirsig's struggle with the philosophology of Idealism and spirituality plain. Pirsig appears to hold Idealism's entanglement with Christianity largely responsible for producing the reactionary materialism and atheism we're stuck with today. A huge topic, but I think fair to say, in this context, Pirsig was focussed on grounding Phaedrus' Idealism in an Aristotelian Reality rather than opening it up further.

@@aqualityexistence4842 In ZAMM, Pirsig quoted someone saying everyone is either a Platonist or an Aristotelian. By these terms, in both books Phaedrus was more a Platonic Idealist, whereas Robert and Ian here more like Aristotelian engineers. Although the characters have their essential type, their direction in the novels goes in the opposite direction. Robert is trying to open up this Idealism in ZAMM, whereas Phaedrus is trying to moor his Idealism to something solid. The annotations provided for McWatt make Pirsig's struggle with the philosophology of Idealism and spirituality plain. Pirsig appears to hold Idealism's entanglement with Christianity largely responsible for producing the reactionary materialism and atheism we're stuck with today. A huge topic, but I think fair to say, in this context, Pirsig was focussed on grounding Phaedrus' Idealism in an Aristotelian Reality rather than opening it up further.