Q&A: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Question
I recently read Robert Pirsig’s book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
A truly excellent book, in my opinion. I noticed there several things parallel to ideas the Rabbi wrote in Truth and Stability. I thought I should mention this to the Rabbi.
He writes there a great deal about the distinction between the classical line of thought (analytic, in the Rabbi’s terms) and the romantic one (synthetic, in the Rabbi’s terms), as well as about the impossibility of defining basic concepts, another claim that the Rabbi has repeated several times.
He also wrote the book Lila, where he developed this theory at length. I haven’t read it yet.
Much success!
Answer
Thanks. I read that book in the army (almost 40 years ago), and it indeed influenced me. I mention it in several places (mainly its conclusion about quality, which cannot be defined, but that does not mean it does not exist objectively). I liked Lila much less.
Discussion on Answer
Ailon, beautifully written! I agree with every word.
I don’t know what the Rabbi remembers. I read Zen about 15 years ago in a very heightened state of alertness (that was already after similar thoughts had also been rolling around in my head, in a different language, inspired by a course on Hegel and Nietzsche and by attempts to understand both what separates and what connects Rabbi Kook and Rabbi Soloveitchik), and as far as its central idea goes, that book is almost exactly the same thing as Two Carts, except that its author is a metaphysician (and therefore also inclined to madness). But the Rabbi, 15 years ago, was also more inclined toward metaphysics than he is today. And Zen is also a literary work in its own right. I even doubt how many people back then, from the Rabbi’s generation, really understood the book. When you understand the book, it is truly a philosophical masterpiece (I don’t really like that phrasing). I strongly suggest that the Rabbi read the book again.