Meaning of "ARETECHNE"
ARETECHNE is the combination of two ancient greek words: ARETE' and TECHNE.
Meaning of ARETE’
In a thumbnail sketch, Pirsig (Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance – 1974) says that the concept of quality originated in the Greek concept of "aręte”, which essentially meant excellence and virtue - aspirational states reflecting "the Good". English writers translated arete in Greek writings as "virtue," but the Elizabethan English added a "prissy" meaning to virtue and the word lost much of the meaning of “arete”. The word and concept of quality replaced in the English language the part of the meaning of arete lost as the meaning of virtue evolved.
Pirsig traces arete to its roots in the ancient Proto-Indo-European language, where the "rt" morpheme shared a common meaning across many words. Many English and latin words today that contain "r" and "t" in close proximity have their origins in this morpheme: virtue, ritual, righteous, right, art, aristocrat, arithmetic, worth, wright, rhetoric, etc., all of which share a relationship to quality.
Also from this rt mormpheme evolved other concepts. In Hindu, the ancient concept of "rta," meaning the cosmic order of things, also had its origins in this rt morpheme. When rta lost its meaning (as did virtue), it was replaced with Dharma, which was subsequently replaced with Karma. So, quality and the Eastern concept of Karma have the same origins.
Robert Pirsig “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” – 1974
Dr. Jerry R. Goolsby College of Business Administration University of South Florida
Meaning of TECHNE
“Techne is the name not only for the activities and skills of the craftsman but also for the arts of the mind and the fine arts. Techne belongs to bringing-forth, to poiesis; it is something poetic. ... There was a time when it was not technology alone that bore the name techne. ... There was a time when the bringing-forth of the true into the beautiful was called techne”.
The danger of modern technology is a challenging - forth to narrow utility in which nature is reduced to "standing reserve", to be available to be ordered, transformed, used up, and discarded. He suggests that by adopting the originary meaning of techne as referring not only to technology but also the making of art - the bringing forth of the true into the beautiful - we might "guard and preserve the essential unfolding" of both art and nature.
Philosopher Martin Heidegger "The Question Concerning Technology"
ARETECHNE is the combination of two ancient greek words: ARETE' and TECHNE.
Meaning of ARETE’
In a thumbnail sketch, Pirsig (Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance – 1974) says that the concept of quality originated in the Greek concept of "aręte”, which essentially meant excellence and virtue - aspirational states reflecting "the Good". English writers translated arete in Greek writings as "virtue," but the Elizabethan English added a "prissy" meaning to virtue and the word lost much of the meaning of “arete”. The word and concept of quality replaced in the English language the part of the meaning of arete lost as the meaning of virtue evolved.
Pirsig traces arete to its roots in the ancient Proto-Indo-European language, where the "rt" morpheme shared a common meaning across many words. Many English and latin words today that contain "r" and "t" in close proximity have their origins in this morpheme: virtue, ritual, righteous, right, art, aristocrat, arithmetic, worth, wright, rhetoric, etc., all of which share a relationship to quality.
Also from this rt mormpheme evolved other concepts. In Hindu, the ancient concept of "rta," meaning the cosmic order of things, also had its origins in this rt morpheme. When rta lost its meaning (as did virtue), it was replaced with Dharma, which was subsequently replaced with Karma. So, quality and the Eastern concept of Karma have the same origins.
Robert Pirsig “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” – 1974
Dr. Jerry R. Goolsby College of Business Administration University of South Florida
Meaning of TECHNE
“Techne is the name not only for the activities and skills of the craftsman but also for the arts of the mind and the fine arts. Techne belongs to bringing-forth, to poiesis; it is something poetic. ... There was a time when it was not technology alone that bore the name techne. ... There was a time when the bringing-forth of the true into the beautiful was called techne”.
The danger of modern technology is a challenging - forth to narrow utility in which nature is reduced to "standing reserve", to be available to be ordered, transformed, used up, and discarded. He suggests that by adopting the originary meaning of techne as referring not only to technology but also the making of art - the bringing forth of the true into the beautiful - we might "guard and preserve the essential unfolding" of both art and nature.
Philosopher Martin Heidegger "The Question Concerning Technology"
