Date:         Thu, 31 May 2001 22:10:15 -0700
Reply-To:     Daniel Schmitz <djs@GENE.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Daniel Schmitz <djs@GENE.COM>
Organization: Genentech, Inc.
Subject:      Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance...
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;

As it's already Friday in some parts of this listserve's vast subscriber
domain, I'll volunteer a non-Vanagon piece of philosophical flotsam by
addressing the Zen/Phaedra controversy, which threatens to eclipse even
the topic of tires:

In Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, "Phaedrus" is the name
given to the character of Robert Pirsig's "former self" who comes rather
unhinged due to having lost himself in the classical mode of
understanding, eventually undergoing electroshock therapy to set things
right. The "former self" character Phaedrus was based on a 5th century
B.C. classical philosopher by the same name.

On the other hand, "Phaedra" is someone completely different (a fact to
which listmembers can attest)

Hope that helps!


Dan

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