All the papers, films and books available on this website (newest first):

“An Overview of the MOQ”

by Robert Pirsig - April 2013

(The transcript of the second film on the 

“The MOQ at Oxford” DVD)

The 1993 AHP Conference discussion 

transcript featuring 

Robert Pirsig & Chip Baggett

(completed February 2013)

An essay about inspirationality 

by John McConnell 

with comments by Paul Turner & Robert Pirsig

“Some notes on the Tetralemma”
by Paul Turner
January 2006  

(revised July 2012)

The MOQ DVD Boxset (which was issued in 2011).  This package ("the one with the jazzy cover!" - Bob) contains the "On The Road with Robert Pirsig", "The MOQ at Oxford" &  the "On The Road with John Sutherland" DVDs.

It now includes the McWatt-Pirsig Letters DVD as a bonus disc (which includes ten PDF books & articles related to the MOQ).

The Boxset is for sale at $69/£40 for all regions.  Postage & packing free. 

($69 or sterling equivalent)

(N.B. A discount is available for universities and college undergraduates in regard to this and anything sold directly through this website; please contact me for further details).

“Evolution, Time and Order”

 by Eric Priezkalns & Anthony McWatt 

with responses by Robert Pirsig

“The Metaphysics of Quality at Oxford”

 by David Buchanan

(August 2011)

A commentary on Anthony McWatt's Ph.D.

by Dr Greg Alvord 

with brief responses 

by Dr McWatt & Robert Pirsig

(May 2011)

A PDF version of a recent PhD examining pedagogy (the Art of teaching!) through the prism of the MOQ by a teacher of over two decades standing:

“Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is indeed entertaining. For about the first five pages. After that it becomes engaging as it draws the reader into its complex argument. I recommend that Harvey and Green (and anyone else who decides to pronounce on Pirsig) actually read his work, especially his reflections on Aristotelian dialectic, rhetoric, arête and Hindu/Buddhist dharma...

‘Reaching the conclusion that we might all have different understanding of quality in higher education and that none of us is necessarily wrong or right does not mean, however, that we are absolved of the responsibility of maintaining and enhancing quality. It is merely the adoption of a pragmatic attitude.’ (Harvey & Green/1993/25)

Pirsig provides a beneficial clarification to this ‘pragmatic’ attitude in education and industry which seeks to measure, maintain and enhance a vague and confused value... This thesis examines this body of evidence and argues for a benevolent reading of Pirsig’s MOQ.” 

Dr McManus.

The Alchemy at the Chalkface PDF is for sale for $8 (or £5 sterling):

(payment by dollars)  

  (£5 sterling)

 

The final DVD in the MOQ DVD Series.  Recognised as probably the best film - as a documentary - out of the four!  Originally released in August 2010, this primarily features a full length interview with John Sutherland recalling how he met Robert Pirsig and the piece of writing which was eventually to become "Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"!  The DVD also includes some brief previously unseen clips of Robert Pirsig filling in some gaps of John’s recollections and an in-depth interview with Professor Ron DiSanto, the co-author of the “Guidebook to Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”.

John’s candid, though often humourous, interview concentrates on the era from Pirsig’s breakdown in the early 1960s to the publication of ZMM in 1974 while Professor DiSanto’s perceptive interview includes his recollections of his meetings with both Pirsig and John Sutherland in the mid-1980s (when he was compiling the ZMM Guidebook with Tom Steele), the relationship of insanity with enlightenment and the use of Pirsig’s books as teaching aids. 

Below is Robert Pirsig’s brief comment on an early version of the DVD:

"I think the John Sutherland interview, which we just looked at, will be a valuable part of the record. He has some opinions about me and 'Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' that will help fill things in."

The DVD is for sale at $20/£12.99 for all regions. Postage and packing free!

“Art & the Metaphysics of Quality”

by Robert Pirsig

(The transcript of the second film on the “The MOQ at Oxford” DVD)

A PROCESS ANALYSIS OF QUALITY:

A.N. WHITEHEAD AND R. PIRSIG ON EXISTENCE AND VALUE

(An M.A. thesis by Dr Andrew Sneddon)

 

The MOQ at Oxford DVD

 

This is Robert Pirsig's assessment of this compilation:

 

"We  have just watched your film and think it’s exceptionally professional. No one else could have done it because they wouldn’t have known what to select and what to leave out the way you do. I think it will have a long life. There is no doubt about its Quality."  

 

It is priced at $25/£16 for all regions. Postage and packing free!

 

(payment with dollars)

(payment by sterling)

Pirsig's November 2006 Interview with the 

Observer's Tim Adams.  

The full interview can only be found here!

'Teaching Aesthetics and Aesthetic Teaching:

 Towards a Deweyan Perspective'

by Dr David Granger

'An Introduction to Robert Pirsig's MOQ'

 by Dr Anthony McWatt

THE RELATION OF ART AND MORALITY

IN JOHN DEWEY'S "ART & CIVILIZATION"

 by David Buchanan

'Brisbane Winter'

 by Gavin Gee-Clough

CLASH OF THE PRAGMATISTS

 by David Buchanan

'Chai at the Lazy Lounge: One stream of consciousness from one lune to another!'
by Anabel Wesley-Walker

Robert Pirsig's extensive commentary 

on Frederick Copleston's 

'History of Philosophy'

'A philosopher’s perspective of recent auditing
procedures in UK Higher Education'
by Dr Anthony McWatt

Extracts by Paul Turner 

from the 

1993 AHP Conference discussion 

transcript (featuring 

Robert Pirsig & Chip Baggett)

Conference opening statement

by Robert Pirsig

'Fun with Blasphemy' 

by David Buchanan 

'Student life and other contradictions:
An inquiry into the value of modern education'

by Gavin Gee-Clough

'Potential Implications of utilizing the MOQ for Research: Why we need more Sherpas'
by Mati Palm-Leis, Ed.D

'It's Evolutionary Psychology, Stupid:

A personal view of the MOQ'

by Ian Glendinning

Prof. Henry Gurr's Conference Handout

'MOQ Conference Concluding Thoughts'

by Khoo Hock Aun