Table of Contents

The View from Robert Pirsig’s Philosophy

Motorcycle …When “Zen” was published in 1974, Robert Pirsig was working as a freelance writer and teaching writing at a university.

The unconventional yet intriguing title of the story alluded to several issues therein. This encompasses topics such as the psychology of psychosis and the historical and cultural foundations of technological advancement.

His next novel, 1991’s “Lila: An Inquiry Into Morals,” was published after “Zen,” although it was not as well received.

The work by Mr. Pirsig addressing the major philosophical problems facing Western society is widely regarded as a classic. Like Don Juan Teachings did for the 1960s, it came to characterize the era that came after the hippie era.

The main character of “Don Juan” took hallucinogens in an attempt to achieve enlightenment. While “Zen” suggested that the rigorous processes of “Reason” may help you arrive at that place, “Reason” really turned out to be a dead end.

Introduction

Starting out from the vantage point of a motorcycle, if you will, is where our tale begins. On a motorcycle trip, you have a bird’s-eye view of the landscape. The point is, when you’re driving, you’re always enclosed in a little box, and you can’t help but think that everything beyond your window is just more TV.

You take on the role of a mere bystander, watching life pass you by monotonously in a static image. But on a cycle, the frame disappears. Your awareness extends to every aspect of the universe.

You’re not just observing this; you’re part of it. You can tell it’s the same substance you walk on as the concrete zips by four or five inches beneath your foot, but you’ll never be able to put your foot down and grasp it. The narrator and his son, Chris, are featured in a narrative about a motorcycle trip they took to Montana with several others.

They’re taking the scenic route the whole way. Country roads with pavement are superior to state highways. Congestion on freeways is terrible.

When riding a bike, it’s best to take the winding back roads away from the hustle and bustle of traffic.

Roads free of drive-ins and billboards are preferable; roads where groves and meadows and orchards and lawns come almost to the shoulder, where kids wave to you when you ride by, where people look out from their porches to see who it is, where, when you stop to ask directions or information, the answer tends to be longer than you expected.

The narrator relates the tale of Phaedrus and his search for Quality as he travels down various paths, experiencing a personal spiritual awakening. And if you are, then let’s get this trip started.

Chapter 1 There Are Two Ways Of Thinking: Classical And Romantic

Along with his eleven-year-old son Chris and another married couple, John and Sylvia Sutherland, the narrator sets out on a cross-country motorcycle vacation to begin his spiritual awakening.

They don’t stick to a rigid timetable since they prefer to travel on less traveled, country roads that aren’t always clearly signposted. The excursion provides the narrator with ample opportunity to elaborate on several themes.

He dubs this method Chautauqua in homage to the tent performances that used to crisscross the United States, putting on lectures that were designed to educate, inspire, and entertain the masses.

The narrator mulls over the Sutherlands’ distaste for technology and their reluctance to perform motorbike repairs as the party moves forward. He goes on to say that John’s motorcycle had broken down multiple times, but that John had never made an effort to learn how to fix it on his own.

It’s unclear to the narrator because there’s so little interest. See, there aren’t a lot of places in the middle of the country where John can get his BMW R60 fixed. While on the road, the BMW had an issue at one point.

The narrator recommended a thin, flat piece of metal, called a shim stock, to make an immediate adjustment out in the middle of nowhere. The narrator held up a can of beer and said, “Greatest shim stock in the world” when John asked where to get one. But John was appalled that he would propose a solution that would detract from the BMW’s pricey and sophisticated appearance.

Even more so, he recalls a day when John and Sylvia’s faucet was leaking. Trying to fix it quickly, John broke it again. That was bound to end in disappointment.

He then saw Sylvia, who had been trying to contain her frustration with the leaky sink, lose her cool with her kids. The narrator had an epiphany and realized that the Sutherlands’ problems weren’t their motorcycle’s upkeep or a dripping faucet. Specifically, they refuse to accept technological advancements.

They rebel against “the system,” much like the “beatnik” and “hippie” labels imply. Although the narrator does not agree with them on the topic of motorbike upkeep, he understands their concerns with modern gadgets. As unfortunate as it may be, their avoidance and rejection of technological progress ultimately serve to hinder their own success.

The Buddha, or Godhead, is just as at home in the inner workings of a computer as he is on a mountaintop or among the petals of a flower, as the saying goes.

The narrator learns that the Sutherlands stand for the romantic way of thinking as he travels with his son, John, and Syliva. The romantic style is largely motivated by emotional responses, including inspiration, creativity, and intuition. They don’t believe life can be controlled or even predicted.

People with a romantic worldview, like the Sutherlands, are more interested in the aesthetics of their motorcycle than in understanding how it works. The narrator, a classical thinker, prefers to know everything there is to know about something, including the inner workings of the motorcycle.

The Sutherlands stand for the romantic form of thought, whereas the narrator considers himself to be a classical thinker. In contrast, the classical approach follows established rules of logic and law.

Motorcycling, on the other hand, is a classic hobby, whereas motorbike maintenance is more of a romantic pastime. While romantics focus on surface features, classical thinkers focus on the fundamental form that gives rise to them.

To elaborate, the narrator draws a parallel between the engineer-like thinking of the classical mind and the maintenance of a motorcycle.

A romantic, for instance, wouldn’t be really interested in the inner workings of a motorcycle engine. Meanwhile, a classically trained observer may be captivated by it because he recognizes a deeper structure behind the surface.

The motorcycle’s power delivery system, ignition system, feedback system, and lubrication system are all familiar to the logical, analytical, and classical mind. The classic seeks to exert dominion over his surroundings and establish order out of chaos, whereas the romantic accepts that life is inherently chaotic and emotional.

Chapter 2

The Birt And Death Of Phaedrus

The narrator starts talking about a guy he calls Phaedrus as he travels along. The narrator gives the former occupant of his body the name Phaedrus, after the ancient Greek sophist.

He claims that Phaedrus can manipulate the world rationally and logically better than anyone else. His IQ was 170, making him one of only 50,000 people in the world with such a high quotient. Despite having a wife and children, he chose to live a life of solitude, spending as much time as possible in isolation. Actually, nobody was familiar with him.

Phaedrus studied philosophy and taught English. As early as the age of 15, he had finished a year of college-level biochemistry, where he discovered his interest in hypothesis testing. None of these possible theories seemed to originate from the natural world or the scientific intellect.

The question then becomes, “Where did they originate from?” There are limitless hypotheses that could explain any phenomenon, he reasoned, so the scientific method could no longer be employed to settle disputes.

In light of this, Phaedrus persisted in challenging the idea of reason and set out to discover the world’s ultimate significance for himself. Many individuals would consider isolating oneself and questioning accepted ways of thinking to be symptoms of mental illness.

The narrator then describes a Friday at the office, during which he had a somewhat routine and fruitful workday. He attended a party that weekend and had drunk too much, so he laid low in a hidden room for a while. He woke up to find that he had spent the entire night there.

He goes out of the house, feeling awkward and bewildered, only to realize he wasn’t actually seeing a stranger. When he opens it, he finds himself in a lengthy hallway where random people have already stopped him to see how he’s doing. Surely, they were alluding to the inevitable hangover he would get after being so intoxicated.

Over the course of time, he realizes that he has been in the hospital for quite some time. Plus, he seems to have taken on an entirely new identity.

It’s official: Phaedrus has passed away. The narrator had electroshock therapy to kill him completely and permanently, per a court order. But today, as the narrator rides his motorcycle along the streets, thoughts of Phaedrus pop into his head.

Now he can’t decide whether to give in to the flood of memories or try to push them back down. The narrator’s life outlook is in sharp contrast to that of Phaedrus, and he doesn’t know how to calm the internal conflict that results.

Despite Phaedrus’s absence, the narrator spends the most of the long trip trying to get into the classical mind of the ancient Greek philosopher.

Chapter 3

Phaedrus’ Search For Quality

Phaedrus became a nomad after he started to have doubts about established modes of reasoning. When you’re stuck without a clear path forward, it’s only natural to wander aimlessly in pursuit of lateral truth.

Thus, he became disoriented and drifted. It was this apathy that prompted him to join the Army and ultimately sent him to Korea. In Korea, Phaedrus started penning letters that looked vastly different from his earlier work, implying that he had undergone some sort of transformation.

Phaedrus’s writing has become increasingly passionate. Phaedrus spent pages describing the bustling markets, quaint stores with sliding glass doors, slate rooftops, roadways, and thatched houses that surrounded him.

On occasion, he would be overcome with unbridled zeal; on other occasions, he might be sullen or even funny. After returning to Korea, he spends two weeks in introspection, during which time he realizes that his lateral search for truth is over and makes the conscious decision to enroll in a philosophy program at a university.

He thought that philosophy, at the pinnacle of academic achievement, held the key to ending his “madness.”

Phaedrus starts to delve into the nature of quality during his philosophical studies. The narrator, out for a stroll with his son, draws parallels between their journey across the mountains and Phaedrus’ search for quality.

Phaedrus comes to the conclusion that quality is an undefined notion, and thus the narrator tries to picture a universe without it. To him, a world devoid of quality is one that is “square” and devoid of artistic attraction; therefore, he gives up on the endeavor.

Since Phaedrus is unable to provide a definition for “quality,” it cannot be understood from an analytical or classic perspective, and quality therefore serves as a bridge between romantic and classical frames of thought.

Classically educated individuals recognize the uniqueness of each person’s worldview and organize it accordingly. So, they bring structure to otherwise chaotic situations.

Romantics, on the other hand, value the disorder that comes with living. Phaedrus, on the other hand, thinks quality doesn’t require picking one over the other.

In other words, “What makes something high-quality is how it reacts to its surroundings.” Because of our superior biological nature, we have evolved to create marvels of imitation in response to our surroundings.

We create the universe, the earth, the trees, the stones, the oceans, the gods, the arts, the languages, the philosophies, the technologies, the civilizations, and the sciences. These are what we mean by “the actual world.” Furthermore, they exist in the real world.

On the other hand, quality is what motivates us to create substitutes. That is to say, quality combines romanticism and rationalism and contemplates the enormous analogies from which we construct our own realities.

Chapter 4

The Church Of Reason Changed Phaedrus’ Approach To Thinkking

Although the philosophy of Quality seeks to unite classical and romantic ways of thinking, the narrator had trouble grasping the romantics; therefore, he found this task particularly challenging.

By way of illustration, the narrator has a self-aware awakening while he travels, and he comes to terms with the internal conflict that this awareness reveals.

He is terrified of things that are not obvious in the relative peace of his environment. Its shadows cover up scary spots. Another of Phaedrus’s recollections emerges in response to this tension.

When Phaedrus was a professor, he experienced nausea every morning before entering his first lecture because of the stress he felt. Going against his solitary lifestyle, he got “stage fright” when he had to speak in front of classmates.

Naturally, the students took this tension to mean a fierce, scary focus from their teacher. As soon as Phaedrus entered the classroom, everyone’s attention was drawn to him, and it remained there as he made his way to the front.

Eventually, everyone stopped talking while they waited for Phaedrus to begin lecturing. Both of their attentions were constantly fixed on him. Most students avoided his lessons like the plague because of his infamous reputation.

Phaedrus was a professor at a teaching college, where he had to repeat himself endlessly to a group of bored students.

Before Phaedrus left the classroom, though, he started referring to it as a “Church of Reason,” which led to much consternation among his peers. The name “Church of Reason” seems odd.

Over time, right-wing state politics began to have an impact on the school self endlessly to a group of bored students.

Before Phaedrus left the classroom, though, he started referring to it as a “Church of Reason,” which led to much consternation among his peers. The name “Church of Reason” seems odd. Over time, right-wing state politics began to have an impact on the school.

This led to declines in individual liberties and lowered scholastic standards. It was emphasized, for instance, that teachers must first get the approval of the college’s public relations staff before making any statements that would be made public.

Furthermore, academic standards were destroyed because the law forbade the university from excluding anyone beyond the age of twenty-one from enrollment. What’s more, the legislature established a law that fined the university $8,000 for each student who failed, thus mandating that all students pass.

The new direction upset Phaedrus so much that he publicly demanded an examination of the school and tried to halt certification.

When his pupils asked for clarification, he delivered his Church of Reason lecture. In the first part of his talk, he read an article about a rural church that had a beer sign in the foyer. It turned out that the chapel had been sold and was now being used as a bar.

According to the story, the Catholic church lodged a complaint, insisting that the church be treated with the sanctity that it merits.

So, what exactly makes a church a church? What makes you think that—the bricks, boards, or stained glass windows? Does it have something to do with the roof’s shape?

The final verdict was that the contested structure was not a religious site of any kind. The beer sign, not the church sign, now hung over the desecrated building.

Phaedrus told this narrative to demonstrate his bafflement over the university’s de-accreditation. He elaborated on the fact that a school does not automatically close its doors when its accreditation is revoked.

Lessons continue as usual. As before, the educational process and curriculum for students remain unchanged. When an educational institution loses its accreditation, all that happens is that it is “excommunicated.

” No longer considered “sacred ground,” the legislature can no longer control what goes on within its gates. A university, like a church, is more than the buildings it occupies or the people it employs. A true college education is a mentality.

“A group of persons with the traditional title of professor have been responsible for maintaining this mindset over the years, but they are not actually affiliated with the institution commonly known as a university. “The true university is the accumulation of human knowledge over time.”

Chapter 5

The influence Of Phaethon On His Son And Their Relationships

Phaedrus began to wonder why he had been so fixated on rational explanations after he realized that a true university has no precise location, owns no property, pays no wages, and receives no material dues.

Phaedrus saw that there was a demand for a romantic, spiritual way of life, and that rational or classical thought could not provide all the answers. Phaedrus’s insanity and troubles can be traced back to his endeavor to reconcile classical and romantic philosophy, often known as seeking quality and balance in life.

The trip is fraught with anxiety for the narrator since he can’t help but wonder if Chris has a mental disorder as well. Chris, for one, regularly complains of stomach aches; once, they worried he had appendicitis because of how severe they were.

Everyone ran away from him when he started screaming, but when he got to the hospital, they discovered nothing.

After experiencing similar stomachaches on multiple occasions, the narrator concluded that she was developing a mental disorder. Chris too has extreme changes in his mood, but the narrator only holds himself responsible for his son’s ailments.

After spending time with his son on the road trip, the narrator realizes that he and his son aren’t on the same page. The narrator notices Chris moving toward the brink of a cliff when they stop at the top, which is dangerously close for a drop of even a hundred feet.

Quickly grabbing his son by the shirt, he pulls him back while yelling, “Don’t do that.” Chris simply gives him an odd squint. In the narrator’s view, Chris wants to despise him now that he is no longer Phaedrus. He understands that he can’t be the kind of father his son deserves because he hasn’t been able to reconcile his identity with Phaedrus.

Chris’s confrontational nature also makes the narrator think of Phaedrus. He decides it’s time to have a conversation with his kid about Phaedrus and the “madness” he felt around Phaedrus.

When the narrator suggests that Chris, too, may have a genetic predisposition to insanity, Chris’s reaction is less than positive.

This causes him to start bawling his eyes out. Chris eventually inquires, “Were you really insane?” The narrator gives a firm “no” in response. Chris’s eyes brighten with sudden surprise. He then says, “I knew it,” and they get on the bike and ride off. Chris’s internal struggles with the possibility that he, like his father, might be mentally ill have finally come to an end thanks to this insight.

As the story concludes, the narrator realizes he can return to his previous persona. Now both he and his son may be at peace with who they are and ride out into the sunset on their motorcycle.

Chapter 5 – Conclusion

The gap between the scientific community and the rest of society has persisted for quite some time. But that doesn’t imply you can’t share characteristics with both types. In fact, bridging the gap between the two is required if you want to achieve quality and have a truly balanced life.

At the end of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Pirsig calls it a “culture-bearing” work because it questions commonly held beliefs about the importance of certain subjects.

People at the time had a dim opinion of the hippie movement because its members rejected capitalism and the American ideal.

Still, the optimistic outlook offered in Pirsig’s book is more than just an alternative to achieving material success. It’s more of a broadening of what we mean when we say “success,” going beyond material accomplishments like a steady income and a clean record.

Additionally, it’s more than just the ability to be independent. It provides a constructive, limitless endpoint toward which one can strive. Ultimately, if you want to live a happy and healthy life, you must take elements from both the classical and romantic traditions.

Important Takeaways

Hear the person at the door:

The solution may be staring us in the face at other times, but we refuse to acknowledge its existence. If you’re at a loss or stuck, look around you.

Take pride in your work:

Think carefully about what you want out of your work and personal life. Our attention is usually drawn to the end result (e.g., financial stability), but we frequently forget to consider how we feel about the means by which that end is achieved (e.g., our current employment).

But if you can find things that interest you, you’ll do a better job and have a lot more fun along the way, which will get you to your goal faster and make you feel better about yourself when you finally reach it.

Traditional ideas against modernist ideas:

Science, intellectual honesty, rationality, reasoning, research, and matter are all concepts typically linked to classical ideas.

Romantic thought emphasizes aesthetics, subjectivity, passion, and personal experience. Both ways of thinking have their benefits and drawbacks, but neither can provide a whole picture of the world on its own.

With the aid of reason, or classical philosophy, we have advanced as a society to meet the basic requirements of billions of people.

Many of us now have enough to meet our most basic requirements, and this has led to a greater awareness of the shortcomings of solely rational reasoning, such as its inability to account for or address issues of the emotional, aesthetic, or spiritual variety.

Moreover, these gaps in rational understanding are inextricably related to the human experience.

Many romantic philosophers reject rationalism as too clinical and constrained.

However, the current fervor with which romantics attack logic can be traced back only to the success with which rational thought has helped us meet our most fundamental wants and provide room for the flourishing of romantic observations and appreciations.

Technology has helped us meet our material needs, but it has also had unintended consequences that have made us less connected to the more spiritual and romantic parts of being human.

Be sure to focus on the root of the problem rather than the symptoms:

If we oppose the system only because we disagree with it, our efforts will achieve very little. inasmuch as the system we oppose is a consequence rather than a root cause.

To bring about the change we seek, we must identify the root of our problems or worries and work to address those issues.

The scientific procedure:

As Karl Popper once put it, “the fundamental point of scientific method is to create meaningful contrasts between both the false and the true in nature, to erase the subjective, unreal, fictitious aspects from one’s work in order to achieve an objective, truthful image of reality.”

To scientists, it’s all about the “objective” facts. Truth claims are verified or disproved using experimental evidence. But it’s vital to wonder if the scientific process and its framework for seeking truth genuinely reflect what’s true or significant in the world.

This is an absolutely brilliant method of elucidating the point of an experiment.

In business, I frequently conduct experiments to test hypotheses, and I’ve found that it’s less crucial to have a correct hypothesis that predicts the result than it is to create an experiment that adequately tests the hypothesis you’re investigating. As a result, you acquire new knowledge.

You defend the uncertain:

You never fully commit to anything in which you have full faith. Nobody is shouting it from the rooftops with religious fervor that tomorrow the sun will come up.

They expect it to go up the following day. People’s obsessive devotion to their political or religious beliefs, or to any other dogmas or aims, is always a sign that the validity of those beliefs or those goals is in question.

Believers often resort to conflict when their convictions are challenged. You wouldn’t have to battle for it if it were a sure thing. An important idea to keep in mind when you consider your causes is that you get what you fight for.

Take in the mountain vistas:

What matters in life is not reaching the summit, but rather the lessons and insights gained along the way. To put it another way: life is about the process, not the end result.

Never do something for the sake of your own ego.

The trip will be difficult and unfulfilling, even if you ultimately succeed in proving your point or being acknowledged as the glorious person you set out to be.

And rather than feeling safe and secure, you’ll be on the lookout for methods to show this self-worth again and again, always worried that someone may discover the truth.

Quality: a challenge to dualistic philosophy

Instead of seeing the world through a dualistic lens, as most Western philosophers do, Pirsig presents a new term, “quality,” to reveal the origin of our dualistic way of thinking.

Once we start dividing the universe into subjects and objects in our heads, quality comes first, according to Pirsig. The occurrence serves as the catalyst for the development of the subject-object distinction.

Caring is the foundation of a non-dualistic worldview:

True meditation on the job results in a condition of flow, in which the worker merges with the task at hand. As a result, the writer and the written work are no longer separate entities.

Beautifully, the two become one. To get here, you have to give a damn about what’s going on right now.

Relationship between our worst fears and the things we hold in highest contempt and why:

If you’re upset with someone or something, ask yourself if it’s because they’re actually going against your principles or because they represent a trait or action you most despise in yourself. This is something to consider the next time you’re in a similar predicament.

Conclusive Synopsis Analysis, And Criticim

As he looks back on his writing career, Pirsig realizes that he should see it the way the ancient Greeks did: with the past fading away and the future rising up behind him.

Neither Robert Pirsig nor his editor had any high hopes for the success of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance upon its initial submission to 121 different publishers. In spite of the uncertainty of the future, Pirsig’s outlook has become increasingly dominated by the book’s huge success.

Many significant and potentially life-altering insights can be found in this book. To better our abilities, ethics, and careers, Pirsig recommends that we lead truthful lives.

Product quality relies equally on each of the three pillars of science. These tenets are the cornerstones of a solid product. Consider the example of a motorcycle that has to be serviced. According to the author, Picasso did not reach this level of artistic purity, but General Motors did.

It takes the same type of devoted devotion or passionate love to accomplish this kind of work, and that’s the kind of mindset a guy needs to be in.

The consistent effort has nothing to do with premeditated plans or objectives.

The narrative depicts a conflict between the realistic and the fantastical, the mechanical and the everyday. In contrast to the other, the former is a downer.

The author brings up a very important issue, the classical vs. romantic debate. But it doesn’t provide a conclusive answer.

You may have one question after reading about his mental breakdown. Is Pirsig crazy, or are we as a society, with our meta-narrative and collective mind, crazy?

The book argues that we cannot rely on logic alone to discover the ultimate truth. The narrator wanted an adequate rationalization for everything that occurred.

However, he came to see that science and philosophy are but representations of the world. Love, nature, and a sense of oneness with God are inviolable realities that can never be broken.

Think about the places where quality and spirituality exist in light of the impact technology has on our culture. A life devoid of gumption is a life not worth living.

https://psytify.com/conclusions-onwhy-buddhism-is-real/

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

Summary of ”Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance” (1974)

The View from Robert Pirsig’s Philosophy

Introduction

Chapter 1

There Are Two Ways Of Thinking: Classical And Romantic