Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Persig

1974 book past Robert M. Pirsig

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Research into Values

First edition
Author	Robert 1000. Pirsig
Country	U.s.a.
Language	English
Genre	Philosophical fiction, Autobiographical novel[1]
Published	1974 (William Morrow and Visitor)
Media blazon	Print (hardcover and paperback)
Pages	418 pp
ISBN	0-688-00230-7
OCLC	673595
Dewey Decimal	917.iii/04/920924 B
LC Class	CT275.P648 A3 1974
Followed by	Lila: An Inquiry into Morals

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Enquiry into Values is a volume by Robert G. Pirsig first published in 1974. It is a work of fictionalized autobiography, and is the first of Pirsig's texts in which he explores his "Metaphysics of Quality".

Pirsig received 121 rejections earlier an editor finally accepted the book for publication—and he did so thinking it would never generate a profit. Information technology was subsequently featured on best-seller lists for decades, with initial sales of at least 5 one thousand thousand copies worldwide.^[2] The title is an apparent play on the championship of the 1948 volume Zen in the Art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel. In its introduction, Pirsig explains that, despite its title, "it should in no way be associated with that great body of factual information relating to orthodox Zen Buddhist exercise. Information technology's not very factual on motorcycles, either."

Structure [edit]

According to Edward Abbey, the book is a fictionalized autobiography of a 17-twenty-four hour period journey that Pirsig made on a motorcycle from Minnesota to Northern California along with his son Chris.^[1] The story of this journey is recounted in a kickoff-person narrative, although the author is not identified. Father and son are also accompanied, for the first ix days of the trip, by shut friends John and Sylvia Sutherland, with whom they part ways in Montana. The trip is punctuated past numerous philosophical discussions, referred to equally Chautauquas by the author, on topics including epistemology, the history of philosophy, and the philosophy of science.

Many of these discussions are tied together by the story of the narrator's own by self, who is referred to in the third person as Phaedrus (afterwards Plato's dialogue). Phaedrus, a instructor of creative and technical writing at a pocket-size college, became engrossed in the question of what defines practiced writing, and what in general defines good, or "Quality", which he understands like to Tao. Phaedrus's philosophical investigations eventually drove him insane, and he was subjected to electroconvulsive therapy, which permanently changed his personality.

Towards the end of the book, Phaedrus'due south strong and unorthodox personality, presented as dangerous to the narrator, begins to re-emerge and the narrator is reconciled with his past.

Writing [edit]

In a 1974 interview with National Public Radio, Pirsig stated that the book took him four years to write. During two of these years, Pirsig continued working at his chore of writing figurer manuals. This caused him to autumn into an unorthodox schedule, waking up very early and writing Zen from 2 a.grand. until six a.m., so eating and going to his day chore. He would sleep during his lunch intermission and and so go to bed around 6 in the evening. Pirsig joked that his co-workers noticed that he was "a lot less perky" than everyone else.^[3]

Themes [edit]

Philosophical content [edit]

In the book, the narrator describes the "romantic" arroyo to life of his friend, John Sutherland, who chooses not to acquire how to maintain his expensive new motorcycle. John simply hopes for the all-time with his bike, and when issues do occur he often becomes frustrated and is forced to rely on professional mechanics to repair it. In contrast, the "classical" narrator has an older motorcycle which he is usually able to diagnose and repair himself through the use of rational problem-solving skills.

In an example of the classical arroyo, the narrator explains that one must pay continual attention: when the narrator and his friends come up into Miles Urban center, Montana he notices the engine running roughly, a possible indication that the fuel/air mixture is too rich. The next day he is thinking of this equally he is going through his ritual to adjust the jets on his motorcycle'due south carburetor. During the adjustment, he notes that both spark plugs are black, confirming a rich mixture. He recognizes that the higher tiptop is causing the engine to run rich. The narrator rectifies this by installing new jets and adjusting the valves, and the engine runs well once again.

With this, the book details ii types of personalities: those who are interested by and large in gestalt—romantic viewpoints focused on being in the moment, and not on rational analysis—and those who seek to know details, understand inner workings, and chief mechanics—viewpoints with application of rational analysis, vis-a-vis motorbike maintenance.

The Sutherlands correspond an exclusively romantic attitude toward the world. The narrator initially appears to prefer the classic approach. It later becomes apparent that he understands both viewpoints and is aiming for the middle basis. He understands that engineering science, and the "dehumanized world" it carries with it, appears ugly and repulsive to a romantic person. He knows that such persons are determined to shoehorn all of life'south experience into the romantic view. Pirsig is capable of seeing the beauty of applied science and feels good near mechanical work, where the goal is "to achieve an inner peace of mind". The book demonstrates that motorcycle maintenance may be ho-hum and deadening drudgery or an enjoyable and pleasurable pastime, depending on mental attitude.

The narrator examines the mod pursuit of "Pure Truths", claiming it derives from the piece of work of early on Greek philosophers who were establishing the concept of truth in opposition to the forcefulness of "The Expert". He argues that although rational thought may find a truth (or The Truth) it may never exist fully and universally applicable to every private's experience. Therefore, what is needed is an approach to life that is more inclusive and has a wider range of application. He makes a case that originally the Greeks did not distinguish between "Quality" and "Truth"—they were 1 and the aforementioned, arete—and that the divorce was, in fact, artificial (though needed at the fourth dimension) and is now a source of much frustration and unhappiness in the earth, particularly overall dissatisfaction with modern life.

The narrator aims towards a perception of the world that embraces both sides, the rational and the romantic. This means encompassing "irrational" sources of wisdom and agreement likewise as science, reason and technology. In particular, this must include bursts of creativity and intuition that seemingly come up from nowhere and are non (in his view) rationally explicable. He seeks to demonstrate that rationality and Zen-like "being in the moment" can harmoniously coexist. He suggests such a combination of rationality and romanticism can potentially bring a higher quality of life.

It has been noted that Pirsig's romantic/classical dichotomy resembles Nietzsche's Dionysian/Apollonian dichotomy equally described in The Nascency of Tragedy. For example, in his book The Person of the Therapist, Edward Smith writes, "In his popular novel ... Pirsig also addressed the Apollonian and Dionysian worldviews, naming them respectively classical understanding and romantic understanding."^[iv]

The self and relationships [edit]

Beverly Gross (1984) writes that Pirsig is seeking a synthesis of "the normal, everyday, functioning self with the person given to extremes, excesses, dizzying heights, obsessions—our crazy self with our sane self, the greatness in u.s. with our ordinariness". The exceptional in the narrator is represented by Phaedrus, who, despite the narrator'south attempt to continue him in the by, pushes to the foreground of his heed toward the volume's end, threatening the narrator's stability and human relationship with his son. However, the narrator'due south difficulties with his son during the journey also question whether giving upwards parts of himself in exchange for "sanity" has even helped this relationship. Gross writes, "He relates to mechanical things, not to people. There is beauty in his recognition that personality inheres in motorcycles, riding gloves; in that location is sadness and sickness in his removal from the personality of people, his own most notably". The Chautauquas, which emphasize the narrator's tendency toward solitary thought and over-analysis, may reverberate his abstention of the issues earlier him: his relationships and the resurrection of Phaedrus. To the extent that the narrator denies Phaedrus, the Chautauquas are practical, but when he decides that he will acknowledge himself to hospital once again, he realizes the undeniable presence of Phaedrus in him, and the Chautauquas are given over to those more than abstract topics.^[5]

Gumption traps [edit]

Co-ordinate to the author, A gumption trap is an event or mindset that can cause a person to lose enthusiasm and go discouraged from starting or standing a project. The word "gumption" denotes a combination of common sense, shrewdness, and a sense of initiative.^[6] Although the last of these traits is the primary victim of the "gumption trap," the first 2 suffer indirectly in that a reduction in initiative results in a reduction in effective action and therefore inhibits one's development of the start 2 traits. Pirsig goes on to inform his readers that the "trap" portion of the term refers to the positive feedback loop that the issue or mindset creates: the reduction in the person'due south enthusiasm and initiative decreases both the person'south likelihood of success in that project and the degree of success likely, thus doubly affecting the expected outcome of the person's efforts. The usual outcome further discourages the person, whether it exist a mere lack of success or a bigger outright failure complete with embarrassment and loss of the resource initially invested.

The specific term "gumption trap" was coined by Pirsig, and the associated concept plays an important part in the practical application of his Metaphysics of Quality.^{[ citation needed ]}

Types [edit]

Pirsig refers to two types of gumption traps: setbacks, which ascend from external/"exogenous" events, and hang-ups, which are the product of internal/"endogenous" factors such as a poor fit between one's psychological state and the requirements of a project.

Setbacks [edit]

The nature of setbacks can vary considerably. For example, a minor setback might result from a pocket-size injury. Larger setbacks include the lack of knowledge that a sure procedural step or other condition is necessary for a projection's success: If 1 attempts to go along working despite the lack of noesis that this obstruction exists (permit solitary how to deal with it), one's lack of progress may prompt one to take long breaks from the projection, to focus one's attending on other endeavors, or fifty-fifty to lose interest in the project altogether. Pirsig suggests preventing these kinds of gumption traps past being slow and meticulous, taking notes that might assistance later, and troubleshooting in accelerate (east.one thousand., by laying out the requirements for one'south project in logical and/or conceptual society and looking for procedural problems ranging from unaccounted-for prerequisites to gaps in 1'due south instructions or plans).

Hang-ups [edit]

Hang-ups stem from internal factors that tin can get in the way of starting or completing a projection. Examples of such hang-ups include feet, colorlessness, impatience, and the failure (often borne of excessive egotism) to realize that a) 1 might non have all the information necessary to succeed and/or b) certain aspects of the problem might exist more or less of import than one believes. Dealing with hang-ups tin be equally simple equally reducing hyperfocus on a specific aspect of a problem by taking a short break from working on the problem or that specific aspect of information technology.

Pirsig notes several aspects of hang-ups.

• Affective (i.e. receptive or dynamic) agreement or "value traps": these tin can be described generally as an disability or reluctance to re-evaluate notions due to a commitment to previous values. On the whole these types of bug can exist addressed past (1) rediscovering facts as they arise; (ii) recognizing that the facts are available and credible; (three) deliberately slowing downward to allow unstructured processing of information; and (4) reassessing the weight attached to the electric current noesis.

• Egotism may encourage one to believe misleading information or disbelieve a potentially inconvenient fact. Appropriate recourses include humility, modesty, attentiveness and skepticism.
• Anxiety may preclude the confidence necessary to begin a project or the self-assurance needed to patiently work through a project systematically. Appropriate recourses include research, study and training prior to showtime the projection; detailing the anticipated steps required to accomplish the task; and agreement the personhood and fallibility of professionals.
• Boredom may crusade sloppy piece of work and inattention to detail. Appropriate recourses include taking a interruption to allow involvement in the projection to rebuild or ritualizing mutual practices. Pirsig notes that at the first sign of boredom, it is important to stop work immediately.
• Impatience, similar boredom, may crusade sloppy work and inattention to item. Appropriate recourses include allowing indefinite fourth dimension for the projection and value flexibility to rediscover aspects of the projection.

• Cognitive understanding or "truth traps": these can exist described equally misunderstanding the feedback of a given activity.

• Reliance on yes-no duality may crusade misinterpretation of results. Pirsig notes the concept of mu and suggests the reply to a particular question may indicate that the question does non friction match the situation. An advisable recourse may be to reconsider the context of the inquiry.

• Psychomotor behavior or "musculus traps": these surround the interaction of the environment, machinist and machine.

• Inadequate tools may lead to a feeling of frustration. Appropriate recourses include proper equipment acquisition.
• Environmental factors may pb to frustration including inadequate lighting, temperature extremes and physically uncomfortable positions.
• Muscular insensitivity or lack of proprioception may lead to a asymmetric corporeality of force being applied to a fabric that leads to frustration. Misunderstanding of different tolerances of various materials may atomic number 82 to broken parts or inadequate tension.

Reception [edit]

At the time of its publication, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, in his volume review for The New York Times, wrote,

I now regret that I lack the expertise in philosophy to put Mr. Pirsig's ideas to a proper test, for this volume may very well be a profoundly important one—a neat one even—full of insights into our most perplexing contemporary dilemmas. I simply don't know. Only whatever its true philosophical worth, information technology is intellectual entertainment of the highest order.^[vii]

Since and so, Zen and the Fine art of Motorbike Maintenance has become the best-selling philosophy book of all time.^[8]

Encounter also [edit]

• Dehumanized
• Lila: An Inquiry into Morals
• Quality (philosophy)
• Pirsig'southward metaphysics of Quality

References [edit]

1. ^ ^{a b} Abbey, Edward (March 30, 1975). "Novelistic autobiography, autobiographical novel? No matter". The New York Times.
2. ^ "Robert Pirsig, Writer of 'Zen and the Art of Motorbike Maintenance,' Expressionless At 88". Huffington Mail. Reuters. 25 Apr 2017.
3. ^ "'Zen and the Fine art of Motorbike Maintenance Author' Robert Pirsig" at NPR online audio archive
4. ^ Smith, Edward W. Fifty. (2003). The Person of the Therapist, McFarland & Company Inc, p. 97.
5. ^ Gross, Beverly (1984). "'A Listen Divided against Itself': Madness in 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance'". The Periodical of Narrative Technique. 14 (three): 201–213. JSTOR 30225102.
6. ^ "gumption". thefreedictionary.com. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
7. ^ "The Motorcycles of Your Mind; Books of The Times". The New York Times. April xvi, 1974.
8. ^ McWatt, Anthony (October 2017). "Robert Pirsig & His Metaphysics of Quality". Philosophy Now.

External links [edit]

• Audio: 1992 NPR Interview with Pirsig
• Guardian interview from 2006: Curt version and Long version

michaelstens2000.blogspot.com

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zen_and_the_Art_of_Motorcycle_Maintenance

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