Robert Pirsig and his bike [click to enlarge]

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The MOQ Shop

 


 

MOQ papers on this website:

Evolution, Time & Order Paper

The 1993 AHP transcript-Part One

Selections from the 1993 AHP transcript

PhD Commentary

An Open Letter to Sam Harris

Art & the MOQ by Robert Pirsig

An Introduction to
 Robert Pirsig’s Metaphysics of Quality

An MOQ Summary by Robert Pirsig

Khoo Hock Aun's Paper

David Buchanan's Art & Morality Paper

Pirsig Annotations on Copleston

Gavin Gee-Clough's "Brisbane Winter" Paper 

 Henry Gurr's MOQ presentation

 

Sneddon Thesis

- Part One

 

Sneddon Thesis - Part Two

David Buchanan's 2006 Paper

Observer Interview

Notes on the tetralemma

The MOQ & Education

Pirsig & Pragmatism

Chai at the Lazy Lounge

 

MOQ Conference Papers:

Robert Pirsig's Welcome Speech

Dr McWatt's Handout

David Buchanan's Paper

Henry Gurr's Handout

Ian Glendinning's Paper

Mati Palm-Leis's Paper

Gavin Gee-Clough's Paper

Khoo Hock Aun's Paper

 

 

 

An Introduction to Robert Pirsig’s
Metaphysics of Quality

At a 1998 presentation in London for the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Professor Harry Kroto unexpectedly spent his time elucidating the merits of meccano instead of discussing his recent Nobel award winning discovery of Carbon 60.  His argument being that students require tactile experience to know when to stop tightening a screw and computer use alone doesn’t teach this. When asked at the end of the lecture, whether he had read Robert Pirsig’s Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (ZMM), Kroto replied: ‘Yes, and that’s what it’s all about!’ 

Conversely, in a 1991 review for Pirsig’s second book Lila: An Inquiry into Morals (LILA), Dan Cryer of the New York Newsday remarked:  ‘Like he village crank hanging out at the public library, the guy really believes he has discovered the secret of the universe’. 

Which view is true?

I doubt Pirsig has discovered the secret of the universe... However, the writer of the so-called cult classic Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (ZMM) has formulated a new metaphysics from the ground-up that may yet prove to be a useful one. This is the “Metaphysics of Quality” (MOQ).

How does the MOQ relate to ZMM?

Not too much, actually. ZMM is aimed towards the general reader of philosophy while the MOQ was not introduced until Pirsig’s second book LILA. The latter is more academic in tone. The MOQ stands alone without narrative support and should be taken as a metaphysics that stands or falls on its own merits. This website is largely concerned with the latter not with biographical gossip.

So ZMM is totally irrelevant to the MOQ?

No, that’s not quite accurate either. ZMM can be construed as Pirsig’s search for an understanding of what is meant by value (or what he terms “Quality”). This interest originated from his tenure as an English teacher at Montana State College in the late 1950s. At Montana, he was under legal contract to teach “quality” even though it was not defined by the college authorities. Consequently, with encouragement from a senior colleague, Pirsig became interested in finding an explicit definition or understanding of what Quality is.

In ZMM, therefore, the reader follows Pirsig’s search in achieving such an understanding. In LILA, this understanding is developed into principles from which a holistic paradigm termed the “Metaphysics of Quality” is deduced. His two works, therefore, fit together as one, though ZMM is more mystical and LILA more metaphysical.

So how does the MOQ relate to previous philosophy?

The MOQ can be seen as a (not the) completion of Nietzsche’s project concerning the trans-valuation of values i.e. a complete re-evaluation of western values on more humanistic grounds rather than theistic ones. There is no evidence that Nietzsche would have followed Pirsig’s particular path though the fact it took Pirsig about thirty years to write the MOQ does provide some explanation as to why Nietzsche failed to complete such a project himself.

Within the MOQ, Pirsig incorporates elements of William James’s pragmatism and radical empiricism, Taoism, Zen Buddhism, evolutionary theory and the work of F.S.C. Northrop (Sterling Professor Emeritus of Philosophy & Law at Yale University). Northrop was mainly concerned with reconciling the different values of the East and West in the interests of world peace. This reconciliation of Eastern and Western values is also a theme running through Pirsig’s two books.

So what do you think is original, if anything, in the MOQ?

Pirsig builds his metaphysical system on the postulation that everything is a type of value. In addition, the MOQ uses cosmological evolution as a basis for a metaphysical system. Pirsig does this in an attempt to remove the cultural subjectivity inherent in many social and intellectual values i.e. he is attempting to place morals on a more objective foundation.

Where did this idea of evolution as a basis in the MOQ come from?

Though it appears that cosmological evolution was first postulated in the 19th century, if not earlier, Pirsig’s explains his particular use of evolution thus:

“I didn’t get the idea that the MOQ is an evolutionary theory of value patterns from anybody. It just arrived Dynamically one day the way a good chess move arrives Dynamically. There was probably some stream of consciousness, a series of intellectual jigsaw puzzle pieces that didn’t fit anything and were immediately forgotten, when among them appeared this puzzle piece which fit everything. It seemed of higher quality than anything I had thought before on the subject and so became incorporated into the static pattern of the MOQ.” (Letter to Anthony McWatt, August 17th 1997.)

So is Pirsig’s philosophy “what it’s all about!” or is the MOQ the idea of just another “village crank hanging out at the public library” after all?

One of the purposes of this website is to assist the reader in making their own judgement concerning the value of Pirsig’s work. For you to do this, please refer to the menu on the left which details a number of papers. Many of these were written specifically for the July 2005 MOQ Conference though the oldest one (on pragmatism) dates back to 1994. In the meantime, I leave the last word with Pirsig himself:

“The hardest thing for me to deal with since the publication of Lila has been the complete disbelief of many that quality is or can be anything real… The solution to this cultural resistance to the MOQ may come from the Orient where quality is a central reality. But there the problem is reversed. A famous Japanese Zen Master [Dainin Kategiri Roshi] who read ZMM told me he thought it was a nice book but he didn’t see anything unusual in it. He was quite puzzled at its success. Another Japanese tourist to America said, ‘This book is not interesting to Japanese people because we already know all of this.’ Schopenhauer said that truth is that short interval between the time an idea is a heresy and the time it is a platitude, but the MOQ has managed to be both a heresy and a platitude simultaneously, depending on which culture you view it from.” (Letter to Anthony McWatt, December 24th 1995)

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New! The MOQ Film Boxset containing the "On The Road with Robert Pirsig", "The MOQ at Oxford" and  the "On The Road with John Sutherland" DVDs. The set now comes with the McWatt-Pirsig Letters DVD as a bonus disc which also includes the Pirsig PhD and MOQ Textbook PDFs.

The Boxset is for sale at $48/£28 for all regions. 

(NTSC Versions for$48 including postage)

 

(PAL Versions for £28 including postage) 

 

 

 

On The Road with Robert Pirsig DVD  

 

This was the winner of the 2009 Wirral Film Festival - Documentary Section.  It is the second film of four in the authorized DVD series about Robert Pirsig's life and work.  

 

It is truly a first class piece of work, deserving of a wide audience, which I hope it receives. Pirsig comes across as a truly enlightened being --- insightful, yet humble, unassuming, down to earth. [He's kept] center focus, as is right. The side-bar comments of others, the scenery, and the judiciously chosen music (at least per my taste) all enhance that focus. Splendid!

 

Professor Ron DiSanto, April 3rd 2009

 

This DVD is priced at $25/£16

 

 

(NTSC Version for $25)

(PAL Version for £16)

 

 

 

On The Road with John Sutherland DVD

 

This primarily features an interview with John Sutherland talking about how he got involved with Robert Pirsig and the piece of writing which was to become "Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance".  In 2010, Robert Pirsig said of the interview:

 

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.

 

In addition to John Sutherland's interview, there is also a full length interview with Professor Ron DiSanto, the co-author of the "Guidebook to Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"; the definitive guide to Pirsig's first book.

 

This DVD is for sale at $20/£12.99 for all regions. 

 

 

(payment by dollars)

(payment by sterling)

 

 

 

The MOQ at Oxford DVD

 

This was the third DVD in the authorized series about Robert Pirsig's life and work.  It features him in the three films specially made for the last year's MOQ Study Day at Oxford University together with the lecture that David Buchanan presented on the day.  This is Pirsig's recent assessment of the 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. 

 

This DVD is priced at $25/£16

 

(payment with dollars)

(payment by sterling)

 

 

"Arrive Without Travelling" 

 

This was the first ever DVD to feature Robert Pirsig on film.  Using professional quality footage and excerpts from Pirsig's own home movies, here you will find him in conversation with students of his work and in more informal moments filmed largely during his visit to Liverpool in 2005. 

 

To purchase a copy of this DVD for $20 (or the sterling equivalent), please press either of the buttons below depending on what format (NTSC or PAL) you require.  

 

 

(NTSC Version for $20)

(PAL Version for £12.99)

 

 

 

A Critical Analysis of Robert Pirsig’s 

Metaphysics of Quality by Anthony McWatt

 

The PDF version of the first ever PhD examining the MOQ remains available together with an  appendix containing correspondence from Robert Pirsig that specifically relates to the philosophical issues it examines. This is the text which Paul Turner described as 'a fantastic piece of work'!

 

To purchase the PDF copy of the PhD by credit card or PayPal at £8 sterling (or the euro or US dollar equivalent) press the PayPal symbol below:

 

 

 

 

The MOQ Textbook

 

In addition to the PhD thesis, the original MOQ Textbook is still for sale. Its remit is wider than the PhD and therefore tends to cover many issues related to the MOQ not explored elsewhere. 

 

To purchase a complete PDF copy of the MOQ Textbook by credit card or PayPal at £6 sterling (or the euro or US dollar equivalent) press the PayPal symbol below:

 

 

 

 

 

 Remember postage and packing is free for all items!

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Robert Pirsig, Wendy Pirsig, Stephen Mills, Dean Summers, Greg Alvord, Andre Broersen and the many other contributors for providing their permission to publish their papers here. 

Dr Anthony McWatt
(site administrator)
 

Please note that the copyright of these papers remains with the authors who need to be contacted directly for permission to use this material elsewhere. 

Audio clip of Robert Pirsig discussing Dynamic Quality:
Copyright 1993 Robert Pirsig & The Association of Humanistic Psychology. 

The complete discussion "The Metaphysics of Quality: A New Paradigm" between Robert Pirsig & Chip Baggett can be purchased at the following website:

 www.conferencerecording.com