Subject: commonplace

From: "J.S." Dorward <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 9 Aug 94 9:58:48 BST

Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance
                   By Robert M. Pirsig

Note :- words in capitals are in italics in the book.

"The book states that there's a theoretic component of man's
existence which is primarily Western (and this corresponded to
Phaedrus' laboratory past) and an esthetic component man's
existence which is seen more strongly in the Orient (and this
corresponded to Phaedrus' Korean past) and that these never
seem to meet. These terms `theoretic' and `esthetic'
correspond to what Phaedrus later called classic and romantic
modes of reality and probably shaped these terms in his mind
more than he ever knew. The difference is that the classic
reality is PRIMARILY theoretic but has its own esthetics too.
The romantic reality is PRIMARILY esthetic, but has its own
theory too. The theoretic and esthetic split is between
components of a single world. The classic and romantic split
is between two separate worlds."

>From p126-127, transcribed by [email-masked].