Quicklets: Learn More. Read Less. Robert M. Pirsig is an American philosopher and author. His works include Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values (1974) and Lila: An Inquiry into Morals (1991).After failing university for inattention to studies in his early 20s, Pirsig joined the Army and went to Korea, where he was introduced to Eastern philosophy. Pirsig became a creative writing professor at Montana State University in 1958. In 1960, Pirsig fell into a period of in