Quality Depends on the Person

                The more I read this book, the more I seem to lose interest in what I am reading. In the beginning, it was fascinating. I was never really forced to think about the topics discussed so it was entertaining, it was new. However, the book started to feel redundant and repetitive. It all deals with Phaedrus, his ability to think of every possible idea in the world, but never decide on which one is right. I think this relates to our class discussions because Phaedrus is so smart, he sees every side to each situation. His consciousness is high and therefore has equal thoughts on opposing arguments. Which brings me to my next point on scientific materialism, in which I tend to disagree with. If the only things that are real are things composed of matter or energy, measureable by an instrument, then is consciousness real, are dreams real? There is no way to determine that both these things exist, but they do.  Classic formalism states that quality is unimportant because it deals with the emotions and not intelligence. When I first read this, I disagreed because I jumped to conclusions; one must obviously have intelligence to determine the quality in something. Quality is dependent on tastes and emotional attachments, but that has nothing to do with IQ, it is pure instinct. For example, when deciding between two great shirts, you do not really know why you pick one over the other; it’s just a feeling you have. This now leads me to my own personal opinion on quality. Although I do believe that quality cannot be defined, I do not think it has anything to do with what it is, rather than on the person who is deciding what it is. In other words, I think that quality itself and what determines quality lies on the eyes of the beholder.  The one example that was stuck in my head throughout the entire reading was soccer cleats. Everyone soccer player has a different pair of cleats and each player can tell you the specific reasons as to why they bought their cleats, whether it be comfort, durability, color, brand name, superstition, tradition, anything. To one player this pair is the best one ever made, to another it is atrocious. They disagree, but the cleat itself still has quality, depending on who’s looking and what they think quality is. One might think that quality is durability and comfort while another thinks it is style and price; it depends on who’s judging.