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Tim Hansen
Johnston
English 1B
25 February 2013
Word Count: 647
To See is to Know?
In his book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert Pirsig discusses the issue of
knowledge and where it comes from. There are two main philosophical arguments for the argument of
truth: that knowledge comes solely from experiences and observations, and that knowledge comes from
structuring empirical data in non-empirical framework. However, problems arise when one assumes that
only one of those arguments is true.
The first argument Pirsig discusses is commonly known as empiricism, or the belief that all
knowledge is derived only through the senses. This argument is made on the grounds that without
sensory input, thoughts would not form, and that the scientific method, the most common system of
acquiring and structuring data, is based entirely upon observation. The problem with relying solely on
this method of thinking is that if knowledge only comes from the senses, then the universe does not
exist outside of the human mind. As Pirsig puts it, “Since all knowledge comes from sensory impressions
and since there’s no sensory impression of substance itself, it follows logically that there is no
knowledge of substance.” (161). In other words, since all we can know about the world is what we
sense, and senses are indirect, we cannot truly know the outside world. When we sense something, it
isn’t direct knowledge. Instead, the knowledge we gain about an object when we observe that object
comes to us through an intermediary, i.e. our senses, so we don’t actually know the object. All we know
is our observation of the object.
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The second argument Pirsig discusses is just the opposite: that knowledge exists outside of
human experience, that some knowledge is “a priori”, which is to say that some knowledge comes from
aspects of reality that are not sensed. This argument posits that we receive all of our data through our
senses, but knowledge comes from placing that data into a framework, that “a priori” knowledge.
Without this framework to fit all of our data in, no sense could be made from it. As Pirsig writes, “Unless
we apply the concepts of space and time to the impressions we receive, the world is unintelligible, just a
kaleidoscopic jumble of colors and patterns and noises and smells and pain and tastes without
meaning.” (162-3). Essentially, unless we use our knowledge of space and time, which doesn’t come
from our senses and thus is “a priori”, we can’t make any use of what comes in through our senses. The
problem with this argument is that “a priori” knowledge is not based on observable data and therefore
is, instead, based upon faith. This faith is not religious faith, it is simply believing that this “a priori”
knowledge is true, when, in reality, it is subject to change as soon as new contradictory data arises. As it
is merely the framework through which we perceive reality, it must be congruent with all observable
data. Pirsig talks about one example of this, “By this he referred to Copernicus’ statement that the earth
moves around the sun. Nothing changed as a result of this revolution, and yet everything changed. Or …
the objective world producing our sense data did not change, but our “a priori” concept of it was turned
inside out.” (166). Basically, when Copernicus learned that the Earth moves around the Sun, nothing in
the physical universe changed; it was the same as before. But the way in which man perceived the world
changed drastically.
Pirsig presents us with two methods some people use to view the world around them and the
problems arising from their usage. To rely only on empirical data is to assume the world only exists in
one’s mind. However, relying on information that exists outside the human experience takes faith in
something that is not observable and therefore cannot be confirmed using our current data analysis and
structural system, the scientific method.
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Works Cited
Pirsig, Robert M. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values. New York:
HarperPerennial, 2005. Print.