Interpreting Sustainability Using Robert Pirsig’s Levels of Quality
G. Venkatesh
Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Department of Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering, Valgrinda, SP Andresensv 5, Trondheim, Norway, NO-7491 (Norway)
Abstract
Quality, according to writer Robert Pirsig (of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance fame), is essentially goodness which humans should comprehend, appreciate and strive towards. It is the understanding or the comprehension he stresses on, in the said book, as a sine qua non for the success of any undertaking towards Quality. Sustainable Development is a Quality; a desirable one at that! Pirsig breaks up Quality into different hierarchical levels – Natural, Biological, Social, Intellectual and Mystic, in that ascending order of importance. He believes that when the Quality levels on the lower rungs start running amok and developing merely for their own sakes, without striving to bring about progress – visualised as being superior to mere growth and development, the mystics need to step in and create awareness of one’s true purpose in life. This essay is not an esoteric, metaphysical mini-treatise. It is also not just a book review, but an interpretation of the thoughts Pirsig has so wonderfully put into words in his book – LILA: An Enquiry into Morals.
Keywords:
Quality, sustainable development, Morals, Pirsig’s Levels of QualityReferences
CAMERON R., NEAL L., A concise economic history of the world: From paleolithic times to the present, Oxford University Press, Oxford UK 2003.
Google Scholar
KALLIO T.J., NOEDBERG P., AHONEN A., 2007, Rationalising Sustainable Development – a critical treatise, in: Sustainable Development vol. 15, p. 41-51.
Google Scholar
KRAS E., 2011, The Deep Roots of Sustainability, in: Problemy Ekorozwoju/Problems of Sustainable Development, vol. 6 no 1, p. 11-30.
Google Scholar
PIRSIG R., LILA: An enquiry into morals. Bantam Books, Random House Publications, USA 1991.
Google Scholar
REDCLIFT M.R., 2009, Sustainable Development (1987-2005) – an Oxymoron Comes of Age, in: Problemy Ekorozwoju/Problems of Sustainable Development, vol. 4 no 1, p. 33-50.
Google Scholar
RUSSEL D.L., 2010, Curmudgeon’s Thoughts on Sustainability, in: Problemy Ekorozwoju/Problems of Sustainable Development, vol. 5 no 1, p. 15-22.
Google Scholar
SANCHÈZ A., Perspectives and problems in Sustainable Development, in: Problemy Ekorozwoju/Problems of Sustainable Development, vol. 3 no 2, p. 21-23.
Google Scholar
WIKIPEDIA, Creative destruction, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_destruction, (1.01.2011).
Google Scholar
VENKATESH G., 2010, Triple bottom line approach to holistic individual and global sustainability, in: Problemy Ekorozwoju/Problems of Sustainable Development, vol. 5 no 2.
Google Scholar
Authors
G. VenkateshNorwegian University of Science and Technology, Department of Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering, Valgrinda, SP Andresensv 5, Trondheim, Norway, NO-7491 Norway
Statistics
Abstract views: 15PDF downloads: 11
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
