3. ROBERT M. PIRSIG, ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE

　　3. 《禅与摩托车维修艺术》，罗伯特·梅纳德·波西格著

　　Simultaneously a thrilling piece of travel literature and a philosophical treatise, Robert M. Pirsig’s 1974 novel Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance traces the author’s bike trip from Minnesota to California. Interspersed with vivid sweeps of the American prairies, each chapter also chronicles a series of philosophical discussions as a father recovering from electroconvulsive therapy gradually tries to reconcile his own worldviews with those of the people around him and liberation from a materialist spiritual vacuum. Drawing on both the Western and Eastern philosophical canon, this challenging read ultimately serves as a platform for Pirsig to introduce his own Metaphysics of Quality.

　　这是一部很有意思的旅游文学作品，也可以被看作一篇哲学论文。波西格74年出版的长篇小说《禅与摩托车维修艺术》描绘了作者从美国明尼苏达州到加州的一段骑行之旅。除了对北美莽莽大草原的生动描述，每一章里，波西格还针对一系列哲理性话题进行了探讨。随着作者的讨论，主人公——一位从电痉挛治疗中逐渐恢复的父亲，不断尝试协调自己和周围人的世界观，并试图摆脱物质文化带给他的空虚感。波西格借用东西方的哲学论点，阐述了自己的“质量形而上学论”，虽然要看懂相当不易，一旦读完却绝对会受益匪浅。