Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

I liked it - so shoot me. This book succeeds not becuase of the answers it provides but because of the thought-provoking questions it raises.

Although Pirsag, like most of us mere mortals, is not a philosophy scholar, this book provides interesting (and novel) attempts to address questions with which deep thinkers have wrestled since antiquity.

I enjoyed the novel approach he takes in his valiant attempt unify the influences of “rational” thought and the “romantic” feelings on truth. Unfortunately, I am not sure I would apply the label “quality” to product of this unification.

I probably enjoyed this book because I have always found philosophical/ethical frameworks that are based on more than rationality to be most compelling - one of my favorite quote on this topic is from Hume “Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions!”

For a more detailed description of Hume's views see “David Hume on Reason, Passions and Morals”