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As an autobiographical novel, the story of Phædrus is actually the life of Robert M. Pirsig, the author of this book. In "Plato's Dialogues", Phædrus is an ordinary Athenian young man who loves philosophy. In this book, Phædrus returns to earth. He was once a student of philosophy and a teacher of rhetoric, but due to the conflict between his philosophical ideas and the cultural worldview, he was finally hospitalized due to a mental breakdown. After being discharged from the hospital, he hoped to free himself from his narrow and restricted self, so he embarked on a long journey across the American continent on a motorcycle. After complex experiences and introspection along the way, he finally temporarily restored spiritual integrity and tranquility. This process of returning to oneself is achieved by constantly seeking "good quality", which is the Zen meditation in Eastern philosophy, and interpreting it with motorcycle maintenance methods. This is where the name Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance comes from. At the same time, the book also criticizes the dichotomies or dualisms in the Western world, such as humanities and technology, spirit and matter, mysticism and mechanics, art and industry, mind and machinery, East and West, and other relative consciousnesses.