Students in Spencer Fetrow’s Philosophy class are reading Robert M. Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. One of the goals of the unit is to explore practical applications of philosophical ideas.
To that end, the class previously read an essay based on Matthew Crawford’s Shop Class as Soulcraft and discussed the value of the DIY mindset.
As a hands-on project, students were able to put their beliefs into action by repairing flat bicycle tires. After completing the task, the class discussed how they felt about completing the repair themselves, if they felt a closer relationship with the technology, and whether they would elect to pay for a bike shop to complete the service in the future or continue to do the repair on their own.
