“The world of underlying form is an unusual object of discussion because it is actually a mode of discussion itself.”

Source: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974), Ch. 6
Context: The world of underlying form is an unusual object of discussion because it is actually a mode of discussion itself. You discuss things in terms of their immediate appearance or you discuss them in terms of their underlying form, and when you try to discuss these modes of discussion you get involved in what could be called a platform problem. You have no platform from which to discuss them other than the modes themselves.

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Robert M. Pirsig 164
American writer and philosopher 1928–2017

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