As a theory of reality the Metaphysics of Quality (MOQ) can be aligned with two lineages. One lineage has been associated with the fictional work of Robert M. Pirsig. The other lineage can be associated with the non-fictional work of Howard T. Odum, and the transdiscipline of Systems Ecology. The difference between these two lineages might be largely due to one's understanding of what the word metaphysics refers to. Theory has a number of distinct meanings in different fields of knowledge, depending on the context and their methodologies. ... Reality in everyday usage means everything that exists. ... Robert Maynard Pirsig (born September 6, 1928) is an American philosopher, famous for his first book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values (1974). ... Howard Thomas Odum (1924-2002), commonly known as H.T. Odum or Tom Odum, was an eminent American ecosystem ecologist and a professor at the University of Florida. ... Systems Ecology is a transdiscipline which studies ecological systems, or ecosystems. ... Metaphysics (Greek words meta = after/beyond and physics = nature) is a branch of philosophy concerned with the study of first principles and being (ontology). ...

Robert M. Pirsig

Robert M. Pirsig put forward his views in his 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, indigenous American philosophy and mysticism. Pirsig claims that the MOQ is a better lens through which to view reality than the traditional dualistic subjective/objective mindset. Robert Maynard Pirsig (born September 6, 1928) is an American philosopher, famous for his first book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values (1974). ... These five broad types of question are not the only subjects of philosophical inquiry, and there are many overlaps between the categories which are subsumed within the discipline under the four major headings of Logic, Ontology, Epistemology, and Axiology. ... DeFoes Robinson Crusoe, Newspaper edition published in 1719 A novel (from French nouvelle, new) is an extended fictional narrative in prose. ... Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values is the first of Robert M. Pirsigs texts in which he explores a Metaphysics of Quality. ... Lila: An Inquiry into Morals (1991) is the second book by Robert M. Pirsig, who is best known for his cult favorite, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. ... In the West, the term Eastern philosophy refers very broadly to the various philosophies of the East, namely Asia, including China, India, Japan, and the general area. ... Pragmatism is belief of the teaching of philosophy which originated in the United States in the late 1800s. ... Mysticism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... The term dualism can refer to a variety of doctrines, mainly in theology and philosophy, each involving the purported existence of two opposites of some kind. ... In philosophy, a subject is a being which has subjective experiences or a relationship with another entity (or object). A subject is an observer and an object is a thing observed. ... As used in philosophy, object is a thing, an entity, or a being. ...

Howard T. Odum

In his "Ecological and General Systems: An Introduction to Systems Ecology", Howard T. Odum put forward a quantitative theory of qualitative value. From this view the qualitative aspects of our reality can be expressed by a rationalist MOQ, and therefore encompassed by an input-output ratio which H.T.Odum called the energy transformation ratio. H.T.Odum considered that this ratio could be understood as a fundamental, energy quality factor, which depecited the fundamental force in the universe described later by Pirsig. This ratio then could be used to specify the trophic position of an atom or animal in ecosystem heirachy. Like the emergy concept,the concept of transformity was first introduced by Dr.D.M.Scienceman in collaboration with the late Howard T. Odum. ... Energy quality, refers to our empirical experience of the different energy forms and the amount of energy available from different energy forms. ...

Development of Pirsig's thought

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 Benares 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. Chemistry (derived from the Arabic word kimia, alchemy, where al is Arabic for the) is the science that deals with the properties of organic and inorganic substances and their interactions with other organic and inorganic substances. ... These five broad types of question are not the only subjects of philosophical inquiry, and there are many overlaps between the categories which are subsumed within the discipline under the four major headings of Logic, Ontology, Epistemology, and Axiology. ... Sanskrit ( संस्कृतम्) is an Indo-European classical language of India and a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. ... Tat Tvam Asi, a sanskrit sentence, translating variously to thusness, Thou art that, That thou art, or You are that, is one of the four Mahāvākyas (Grand Pronouncements) in Hinduism. ...

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 led Pirsig into what he called "a mushroom cloud of thought." 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. Rhetoric (from Greek ρήτωρ, rhêtôr, orator) is one of the three original liberal arts or trivium (the other members are dialectic and grammar) in Western culture. ... The Montana State University System was created on July 1, 1994, when the Montana Board of Regents of Higher Education restructured the states colleges and universities into two umbrella universities, Montana State University System and the University of Montana. ... Quality refers to the inherent or distinctive characteristics or properties of a person, object, process or other thing. ...

The MOQ according to Pirsig

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. Look up static in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The word dynamics can refer to: a branch of mechanics; see dynamics (mechanics) the volume of music; see dynamics (music) When used referring to mechanics, it is referring to the study of the motion of both rigid bodies and particles. ... A yearly anime and manga convention in Melbourne, Australia in the later half of the year Manifest started in 1999 and it is still going strong, expanding year after year. ...

Quality

"quality "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. Empiricism comes from the Greek word εμπειρισμός, a noun meaning a test or trial. The -pir- is ultimately related to the -per- of the Latin words experientia and experimentum, both of which mean experiment, and from which our words experiment and experience come. ... Taijitu For the people, see Tao people. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards and appeal to a wider international audience, this article may require cleanup. ... An idea (Greek: ιδέα) is the result of thinking. ... Matter is commonly referred to as the substance of which physical objects are composed. ...

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. For example, the Dynamic beauty of a piece of music can be recognised before reading any static analysis explaining why the music is beautiful.

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: Universal laws such as gravity, mass, fire, etc.
• Biological patterns: Laws concerned with physiological processes e.g. sex, processing food, blood circulation, etc.
• Social patterns: Cultural groupings of people e.g. the family, the state, religion, etc.
• Intellectual patterns: matters of the mind e.g. science, philosophy etc.

Pirsig describes cosmological 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. It has been suggested that gravitation be merged into this article or section. ... Mass is a property of a physical object that quantifies the amount of matter it contains. ... It has been suggested that flame be merged into this article or section. ... Biology is the branch of science dealing with the study of life. ... Physiology (in Greek physis = nature and logos = word) is the study of the mechanical, physical, and biochemical functions of living organisms. ... Sex, in the scope of this article and category, refers to the male and female duality of biology and reproduction. ... The circulatory system or cardiovascular system is the organ system which circulates blood around the body of most animals. ... ... A family of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso in 1997 A family is a domestic group of people, or a number of domestic groups, typically affiliated by birth or marriage, or by comparable legal relationships including domestic partnership, adoption, surname and in some cases ownership (as was the case in the Roman... A state is an organized political community occupying a definite territory, having an organized government, and possessing internal and external sovereignty. ... Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Science For the scientific journal named Science, see Science (journal). ... These five broad types of question are not the only subjects of philosophical inquiry, and there are many overlaps between the categories which are subsumed within the discipline under the four major headings of Logic, Ontology, Epistemology, and Axiology. ... Cosmology is the study of the large-scale structure and history of the universe. ... A speculatively rooted phylogenetic tree of all living things, based on rRNA gene data, showing the separation of the three domains, bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes, as described initially by Carl Woese. ... Value is a term that expresses the concept of worth in general, and it is thought to be connected to reasons for certain practices, policies, or actions. ... Civil rights or positive rights are those legal rights retained by citizens and protected by the government. ... Intelligence is a general mental capability that involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend ideas and language, and learn. ...

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. Subject Object Metaphysics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Western philosophy is a line of related philosophical thinking, beginning in Ancient Greece, and including the predominant philosophical thinking of Europe and its former colonies, and continues to this day. ...

See also

• Charles Peirce
• Platonism, Plato
• Pragmatism
• Taoism, Tao
• William James
• Emergy Synthesis

Charles Sanders Peirce Charles Sanders Santiago Peirce (pronounced purse), (September 10, 1839, Cambridge, Massachusetts – April 19, 1914, Milford, Pennsylvania) was an American polymath. ... Platonic idealism is the theory that the substantive reality around us is only a reflection of a higher truth. ... Plato Plato (Greek: Πλάτων Plátōn) (ca. ... Pragmatism is belief of the teaching of philosophy which originated in the United States in the late 1800s. ... For other uses of the words tao and dao, see Dao (disambiguation). ... Taijitu For the people, see Tao people. ... William James William James (January 11, 1842, New York – August 26, 1910, Chocorua, New Hampshire) was a pioneering American psychologist and philosopher. ... The term Emergy Synthesis was introduced by Dr. D.M. Scienceman, the author of the Emergy nomenclature. ...

Books

• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values (1974) ISBN 0060958324
• Lila: An Inquiry into Morals (1991) ISBN 0553299611
• Guidebook to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by R. DiSanto and T. J. Steele (1990) ISBN 0688060692
• A Critical Analysis of Robert Pirsig's Metaphysics of Quality by Anthony McWatt (2004) - for details, see link below.
• "H.T.Odum (1994) Ecological and General Systems: An Introduction to Systems Ecology. University Press of Colorado, Niwot, CO.

External links

• Metaphysics of Quality page
• Metaphysics of Quality Wiki Pages
• robertpirsig.org - a website containing a number of papers concerned with the Metaphysics of Quality.
• Timeline of Robert Pirsig's life
• A Dissenter's Analysis of the MOQ
• Pictures from Robert Pirsig's original 1968 trip upon which Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is based
• Robert M. Pirsig & Quality
• Lila Squad Booklisting
• More Metaphysics of Quality links