Collections
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| On Quality: An Inquiry Into Excellence | 2022 | Buy |
Phaedrus Reading Order
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values | 1974 | Buy |
| 禅与摩托车维修艺术 | 1974 | N/A |
| Lila - Ahlâkın Sorgulanması | 1991 | N/A |
| Lila: An Inquiry Into Morals | 1991 | Buy |
Robert M. Pirsig (1928-2017) was an American writer and philosopher whose work bridged fiction and philosophical inquiry. His debut, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974), was rejected by 121 publishers before becoming one of the best-selling philosophy books ever written. The book follows a father-son motorcycle trip across the American West while exploring questions about what “Quality” really means.
His follow-up, Lila: An Inquiry Into Morals (1991), continued developing his Metaphysics of Quality through the story of a sailboat trip down the Hudson River. Both novels feature the character Phaedrus as a stand-in for Pirsig’s own philosophical explorations. After his death in 2017, a posthumous collection titled On Quality: An Inquiry Into Excellence was published in 2022, gathering his unpublished writings and lectures on the subject he spent his life examining.