->Johnj1995: Corrected a reference

2021-12-09T18:10:18Z

Corrected a reference

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{{short description|American writer and philosopher}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2018}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Robert M. Pirsig
| image = Pirsig2005 (cropped).jpg
| caption = Pirsig in 2005
| birth_name = Robert Maynard Pirsig
| birth_date = {{birth date|1928|09|06}}
| birth_place = [[Minneapolis, Minnesota]], U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2017|04|24|1928|09|06}}
| death_place = [[South Berwick, Maine]], U.S.
| occupation = Writer, philosopher
| genre = [[Philosophical fiction]]
| notableworks = ''[[Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance]]'' (1974), ''[[Lila: An Inquiry into Morals]]'' (1991)
| spouse = {{plainlist}}
* {{marriage|Nancy Ann James<br />|1954|1978|end=div}}
* {{marriage|Wendy Kimball<br />|1978}}
{{endplainlist}}
| alma_mater = [[University of Minnesota]]<br />[[Banaras Hindu University]]<br />[[University of Chicago]]
| children = 3
| relatives = [[Maynard Pirsig]] (father)
| awards = [[Guggenheim Fellowship]] (1974)
| signature =
| website =
| imagesize = 220px
}}

'''Robert Maynard Pirsig''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|p|ɜːr|s|ɪ|ɡ}}; September 6, 1928 – April 24, 2017) was an American writer and [[philosopher]]. He was the author of the philosophical novels ''[[Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance|Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values]]'' (1974), ''[[Lila: An Inquiry into Morals]]'' (1991) and he co-authored the upcoming ''On Quality: An Inquiry Into Excellence: Selected and Unpublished Writings'' (2022) along with his wife (now widow) and editor, Wendy Pirsig.<ref name="AP_death " />

==Early life==
Pirsig was born on September 6, 1928, in [[Minneapolis]], [[Minnesota]],<ref name="Gale">{{cite encyclopedia| title= Robert M(aynard) Pirsig| work= Contemporary Popular Writers| editor-first= Dave |editor-last= Mote| place= Detroit| publisher= St. James Press| year= 1997 }}</ref> the son of Harriet Marie Sjobeck and [[Maynard Pirsig]]. He was of [[Germans|German]] and [[Swedes|Swedish]] descent.<ref name="ASAW" /> His father was a graduate of the [[University of Minnesota Law School]], taught in that school from 1934, served as its dean from 1948 to 1955, and retired from teaching there in 1970.<ref name= "Tribute to Dean">{{cite web| url= http://www.moq.org/links/LinkData/DeanPirsigTribute.html |title= A Tribute to Dean Pirsig| publisher= [[University of Minnesota Law School]]| via= MOQ.org}}</ref> He subsequently taught at the [[William Mitchell College of Law]] until his retirement in 1993.<ref name="Tribute to Dean" />

A precocious child with an alleged [[Intelligence quotient|IQ]] of 170 at the age of nine, Pirsig skipped several grades at the [[Blake School (Minneapolis)|Blake School]] in Minneapolis.<ref name="ASAW">{{cite web | title = Robert M. Pirsig | work = It Happened in History | publisher = American Society of Authors and Writers | url = http://amsaw.org/amsaw-ithappenedinhistory-090604-pirsig.html | access-date = February 25, 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/nov/19/fiction|title=The interview: Robert Pirsig| first= Tim| last= Adams|date=November 18, 2006|newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref> In May 1943, Pirsig was awarded a high school diploma at the age of 14 by the University High School (later renamed [[Marshall-University High School]]), where he had edited the school yearbook, the Bisbilla. Pirsig then studied [[biochemistry]] at the [[University of Minnesota]]. In ''Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance'', he describes the central character, thought to represent himself,<ref>{{cite web| url= https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/apr/25/robert-pirsig-zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance-author-dies-aged-88|title= Robert Pirsig: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance author dies aged 88|date=April 24, 2017| work= The Guardian |access-date= April 26, 2017}}</ref> as being an atypical student, interested in science in itself rather than a professional career path.

In the course of his studies, Pirsig became intrigued by the multiplicity of putative causes for a given phenomenon, and has increasingly focused on the role played by the hypotheses in the scientific method and sources from which they originate. His preoccupation with these matters led to a decline in his grades and expulsion from the university.<ref name="vitello"/>

In 1946, Pirsig enlisted in the [[United States Army]] and was stationed in [[South Korea]] until 1948. Upon his discharge from the Army, he lived for several months in [[Seattle]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]], and then returned to the University of Minnesota, from which he received a bachelor's degree in 1950.<ref name= "Learning2015">{{cite book|title= A Study Guide for Robert Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=o2MODAAAQBAJ&pg=PT5|date=March 13, 2015|publisher=Gale, Cengage Learning| isbn= 978-1-4103-2079-7| pages= 5–}}</ref> He subsequently studied philosophy at [[Banaras Hindu University]] in India and the [[Richard McKeon|Committee on the Analysis of Ideas and Study of Methods]] at the [[University of Chicago]]. In 1958 he earned a master's degree in journalism from the University of Minnesota.<ref name="vitello">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/24/books/robert-pirsig-dead-wrote-zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance.html|title=Robert M. Pirsig, Author of 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance', Dies at 88| first= Paul|last=Vitello|date=April 24, 2017|work= The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url= http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-robert-pirsig-obituary-20170424-story.html|title=Robert Pirsig dies at 88; wrote counterculture classic 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance'|date=April 24, 2017|work= Los Angeles Times}}</ref>

==Career==
In 1958, he became a professor at [[Montana State University]] in [[Bozeman, Montana|Bozeman]], and taught creative writing courses for two years. Shortly thereafter he taught at the [[University of Illinois at Chicago]].<ref name="NY Post AP dies" />

Pirsig's published writing consists most notably of two books. The better known, ''[[Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance]]'', delves into Pirsig's exploration into the nature of ''[[quality (philosophy)|quality]]''. Ostensibly a [[first-person narrative]] based on a motorcycle trip he and his young son Chris had taken from [[Minneapolis]] to [[San Francisco]], it is an exploration of the underlying [[metaphysics]] of [[Western culture]]. He also gives the reader a short summary of the [[history of philosophy]], including his interpretation of the philosophy of Aristotle as part of an ongoing dispute between ''[[Universality (philosophy)|universalists]]'', admitting the existence of ''[[universals]]'', and the [[Sophism|Sophists]], opposed by Socrates and his student [[Plato]]. Pirsig finds in "Quality" a special significance and common ground between Western and Eastern world views.<ref name="AP_death" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2017/04/25/525516740/author-robert-pirsig-dies-at-88-motorcycle-trip-inspired-popular-zen-book|title=Robert Pirsig Dies At 88; Motorcycle Trip Inspired Popular 'Zen' Book| website= [[NPR]].org| access-date= April 26, 2017}}</ref>

Pirsig had great difficulty finding a publisher for ''Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance''. Pirsig was turned down by 121 publishers, before publisher #122 accepted the manuscript. When he did, his publisher's internal recommendation stated, "This book is brilliant beyond belief, it is probably a work of genius, and will, I'll wager, attain classic stature."<ref>{{cite book| last= Richardson| first= Mark| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=CFh5lBV_C_sC&pg=PA194 | title= Zen and Now| publisher= Random House Digital, Inc. |date= September 9, 2008| page= 194| isbn= 9780307270481}}</ref> In his [[book review]], [[George Steiner]] compared Pirsig's writing to [[Fyodor Dostoyevsky|Dostoevsky]], [[Hermann Broch|Broch]], [[Marcel Proust|Proust]], and [[Henri Bergson|Bergson]], stating that "the assertion itself is valid ... the analogies with ''[[Moby-Dick]]'' are patent".<ref>{{cite web| first= George| last= Steiner| author-link= George Steiner| url= http://www.mrbauld.com/steiner.html| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20030428213201/http://www.mrbauld.com/steiner.html| url-status= dead| archive-date= April 28, 2003| title= Uneasy Rider| work= [[The New Yorker]]| date= April 15, 1974| publisher= Published online at mrbauld.com| pages= 147–150}}</ref>

In 1974, Pirsig was awarded a [[Guggenheim Fellowship]] to allow him to write a follow-up, ''[[Lila: An Inquiry into Morals]]'' (1991), in which he developed a value-based [[metaphysics]], [[Pirsig's Metaphysics of Quality|Metaphysics of Quality]], that challenges our subject–object view of reality. The second book, this time "the captain" of a sailboat, follows on from where ''Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance'' left off.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4612367 | title=Robert Pirsig Discusses 'Lila: An Inquiry into Morals' | date=April 21, 2005 | access-date=April 24, 2019 | publisher=[[NPR|National Public Radio]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/10/14/books/books-of-the-times-novelist-continues-a-philosophical-voyage.html|title=Books of The Times; Novelist Continues A Philosophical Voyage|date=October 14, 1991|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 26, 2017}}</ref>

Pirsig was vice-president of the [[Minnesota Zen Meditation Center]] from 1973 to 1975 and also served on the board of directors.<ref>"Pirsig, Robert M(aynard) (1928–)" (2005). In T. Matthews & T. Watson (eds.), ''Major 21st-Century Writers'' (Vol. 4). Gale Virtual Reference Library. Detroit: Gale.</ref>

==Personal life==
Robert Pirsig married Nancy Ann James on May 10, 1954. They had two sons: Chris, born in 1956, and Theodore (Ted), born in 1958.<ref name="NY Post AP dies"/>

Pirsig suffered a [[mental breakdown]] and spent time in and out of psychiatric hospitals between 1961 and 1963. He was diagnosed with [[schizophrenia]] and treated with [[electroconvulsive therapy]] on numerous occasions,<ref name="vitello"/> a treatment he discusses in ''Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance''. Nancy sought a divorce during this time;<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/nov/19/fiction|title=The interview: Robert Pirsig| last= Adams| first= Tim|date=November 18, 2006|work=The Guardian|access-date=April 25, 2017|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> they formally separated in 1976 and divorced in 1978.<ref name="NY Post AP dies" /> On December 28, 1978, Pirsig married Wendy Kimball in [[Tremont, Maine]].

In 1979, his son Chris, who figured prominently in ''Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance'', was fatally stabbed in a mugging outside the [[San Francisco Zen Center]] at the age of 22.<ref>{{Cite news|url= https://www.nytimes.com/1979/11/20/archives/100-zen-students-keeping-vigil-over-body-of-man-slain-in-street.html |title= 100 Zen Students Keeping Vigil Over Body of Man Slain in Street|date= November 20, 1979 |work= The New York Times |access-date= April 26, 2017 |location= San Francisco |agency= Associated Press }}</ref> Pirsig discusses this tragedy in an afterword to subsequent editions of ''Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance'', writing that he and his second wife Wendy Kimball decided not to abort the child they conceived in 1980 because he believed that this unborn child{{spaced ndash}}later their daughter Nell{{spaced ndash}}was a continuation of the "life pattern" that Chris had occupied.<ref>{{cite book| first= Robert| last= Pirsig| chapter= Afterword |title= Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance| url= https://archive.org/details/zenartofmotorcyc00pirs| url-access= registration| location= New York| publisher= Bantam Books| year= 1984}}</ref>

Pirsig died aged 88, at his home in [[South Berwick, Maine]], on April 24, 2017, after a period of failing health.<ref name="AP_death" />

==Legacy and recognition==
Pirsig received a [[Guggenheim Fellowship]] in 1974 for General Nonfiction,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.gf.org/fellows/all-fellows/robert-pirsig/ |title=Robert Pirsig |website=Guggenheim Fellowship |access-date=August 6, 2018}}</ref> allowing him to complete his second book. The [[University of Minnesota]] conferred an Outstanding Achievement Award in 1975.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://uawards.umn.edu/outstanding-achievement-award/recipients-outstanding-achievement-award |title=Recipients of the Outstanding Achievement Award |website=University of Minnesota |access-date=August 6, 2018}}</ref> He won an award for literature from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1979.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1979-03-21|title=Arts Academy Awards Honors|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/03/21/archives/arts-academy-awards-honors.html|access-date=2021-11-23|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

On December 15, 2012, [[Montana State University]] bestowed upon Pirsig an [[Honorary degree|honorary doctorate]] in philosophy during the university's fall commencement. Pirsig was also honored in a commencement speech by MSU Regent Professor Michael Sexson.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/2012-December/069040.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130625204309/http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/2012-December/069040.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 25, 2013 |title=[MD] Pirsig's Honorary Doctorate |website=moqtalk.org |access-date=July 2, 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.montana.edu/cpa/news/nwview.php?article=11608 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130403082838/http://www.montana.edu/cpa/news/nwview.php?article=11608 |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 3, 2013 |title=MSU to award honorary doctorate to philosopher Robert Pirsig at December commencement |website=montana.edu |publisher=Montana State University |date=November 16, 2012 |access-date=July 2, 2013 }}</ref> Pirsig had been an instructor in writing at what was then Montana State College from 1958 to 1960.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/montana_state_university/article_52ea42ba-3147-11e2-9b66-0019bb2963f4.html |title= MSU to award honorary doctorate to philosopher Robert Pirsig |work= [[Bozeman Daily Chronicle]] |date=November 18, 2012 |access-date=July 2, 2013}}</ref>

Pirsig did not travel to Bozeman in December 2012 to accept the accolade, allegedly due to frailty of health.<ref name="NY Post AP dies">{{cite web| url=https://nypost.com/2017/04/25/author-robert-pirsig-dies-at-88/| title= Author Robert Pirsig dies at 88| agency= Associated Press|date=April 25, 2017| work= [[New York Post]] |access-date=April 26, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.montana.edu/news/11608/msu-to-award-honorary-doctorate-to-philosopher-robert-pirsig-at-december-commencement|title=MSU to award honorary doctorate to philosopher Robert Pirsig at December commencement|website= montana.edu| publisher= Montana State University|access-date=April 26, 2017}}</ref> However, in ''Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance'', Pirsig writes about his time at Montana State College as a less than pleasurable experience, and that this limited his ability to teach writing effectively and to develop his own philosophy and writing.

In December 2019, the [[Smithsonian Institution|Smithsonian's]] [[National Museum of American History]] acquired Pirsig's 1966 [[Honda CB77|Honda CB77F Super Hawk]] on which the 1968 ride with his son Chris was taken. The donation included a manuscript of ''Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance'', a signed first edition of the book, and tools and clothing from the ride.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.si.edu/newsdesk/releases/zen-motorcycle-takes-final-journey-smithsonians-collections|title="Zen Motorcycle" Takes Final Journey Into the Smithsonian's Collections|website=Smithsonian Institution|language=en|access-date=2020-01-28}}</ref> In 2020, the Smithsonian acquired additional material from the Pirsig family relating to Pirsig's maritime interests and background.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Johnston|first=Paul F.|date=Winter 2020-2021|title="If boat is going down" --Bikes, boats, and Robert Pirsig|url=https://seahistory.org/wp-content/uploads/SH173-ZAMM-LR.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-01-05|website=Sea History.org, issue 173, pages 12-19}}</ref> In 2020, the Robert M. Pirsig archive was collected by the Houghton Library at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts;<ref>{{Cite web|last=Harvard University|first=Houghton Library|date=2021|title=Robert M. Pirsig papers, circa 1880-2019 (inclusive), 1930-1990 (bulk)|url=https://hollis.harvard.edu/primo-explore/printPage/L/01HVD_ALMA212456101570003941?vid=HVD2|url-status=live}}</ref> a 2021 article in the ''International Journal of Motorcycle Studies'' details the writer's close historic relationship with motorcycles from the age of four to shortly before his death.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Johnston|first=Paul F.|date=2021|title=Black and Chrome and Dusty: Robert Pirsig's Motorcycle Heritage|url=https://motorcyclestudies.org/volume-17-2021/chrome-and-black-and-dusty-robert-pirsigs-motorcycle-heritage-paul-f-johnston/|journal=International Journal of Motorcycle Studies|volume=17}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[James Verne Dusenberry]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name="AP_death">{{cite news |url= http://www.kansascity.com/entertainment/article146448179.html |newspaper=[[The Kansas City Star]] |first= Hillel |last=Italie |agency= [[Associated Press]] |title= 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' author dead |date=April 24, 2017 |access-date=April 24, 2017 }}</ref>
}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{worldcat id|id=lccn-n83-231586}}
* [http://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/the-motorcycle-is-yourself-revisiting-zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance-1.2914205 The Motorcycle is Yourself: Revisiting 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance'] CBC interview
* [http://venturearete.org/ResearchProjects/ProfessorGurr/gallery/Pictures-Robert-Pirsigs-original-1968-trip/ Photographs] from Pirsig's 1968 trip upon which ''Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance'' is based
* NPR interviews with Pirsig: [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4612364 Audio: 1974] and [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4612367 Audio: 1992]
* Audio excerpt from [https://archive.org/details/RobertPirsigInerviewOnBbcRadio BBC radio program] about cult books

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pirsig, Robert M.}}
[[Category:Robert M. Pirsig| ]]
[[Category:1928 births]]
[[Category:2017 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American philosophers]]
[[Category:20th-century American novelists]]
[[Category:American expatriates in Belgium]]
[[Category:American expatriates in Ireland]]
[[Category:American expatriates in Norway]]
[[Category:American expatriates in Sweden]]
[[Category:American expatriates in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:American people of German descent]]
[[Category:American people of Swedish descent]]
[[Category:Banaras Hindu University alumni]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Minnesota]]
[[Category:Motorcycling writers]]
[[Category:Writers from Minneapolis]]
[[Category:People with schizophrenia]]
[[Category:People with mood disorders]]
[[Category:United States Army soldiers]]
[[Category:University of Chicago alumni]]
[[Category:University of Minnesota alumni]]
[[Category:American male novelists]]
[[Category:Novelists from Minnesota]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]

Robert M. Pirsig - Revision history

->Johnj1995: Corrected a reference