Large thoughts, sir. This is one treatise i will need to read again, but i wonder about how we define the context of the individual in relation to the group? Group mores define the zeitgeist of an era or age of human consciousness; we still lack an overarching mantra for the current era of "the tumultuous twenties".
In Zen and the Art of Maintenance Pirsig talks about "Quality" and relates it to the teaching of "arete" by the Sophists prior to the objectification of nature by Aristotle and Plato. Arete roughly translates to "virtue" or "fittness for function." Pirsig also tells an antecdote about the idea of a "good dog" in Lila - to illustrate that American Indians also saw fitness to function as being a critical aspect of their world view.
Have you also read Lila. If not - I highly recommend. And you may want to go back to ZAMM after reading Lila. Some aspects will take on new significance. I get something new from ZAMM every time I re-read it.
Congrats on a well-researched essay on a vitally important and timely topic Adam! 👏 If we want to build a culture of "good" people, we must at least define what we mean by that. Then we face the challenge of how best to inculcate those virtues.
Glad to see you reference Peterson & Seligman's work. While you critique it for its secularism and lack of "spirituality", that might make it more available to a wider audience (perhaps with modifications). I wrote about that here:
Large thoughts, sir. This is one treatise i will need to read again, but i wonder about how we define the context of the individual in relation to the group? Group mores define the zeitgeist of an era or age of human consciousness; we still lack an overarching mantra for the current era of "the tumultuous twenties".
In Zen and the Art of Maintenance Pirsig talks about "Quality" and relates it to the teaching of "arete" by the Sophists prior to the objectification of nature by Aristotle and Plato. Arete roughly translates to "virtue" or "fittness for function." Pirsig also tells an antecdote about the idea of a "good dog" in Lila - to illustrate that American Indians also saw fitness to function as being a critical aspect of their world view.
I love that book. This one expands on some of this thinking- https://a.co/d/gzBQEey
Have you also read Lila. If not - I highly recommend. And you may want to go back to ZAMM after reading Lila. Some aspects will take on new significance. I get something new from ZAMM every time I re-read it.
Congrats on a well-researched essay on a vitally important and timely topic Adam! 👏 If we want to build a culture of "good" people, we must at least define what we mean by that. Then we face the challenge of how best to inculcate those virtues.
Glad to see you reference Peterson & Seligman's work. While you critique it for its secularism and lack of "spirituality", that might make it more available to a wider audience (perhaps with modifications). I wrote about that here:
https://bairdbrightman.substack.com/p/what-is-a-good-person
A renaissance of virtue: that's a movement a lot of people would support about now!
I get that- the availability to a wider audience. I just worry when we distill things out, we abstract them from the source material.
Good point. Perhaps useful as a stripped-down platform to build on due to the global (trans-national) data base on which it's built.
Josie would be so proud!