Zen and the art of aut-ethnography: a tribute to Robert M. Pirsig

This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. one author of this publication is identified as autistic in the project.

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Milton, D. (2017). Zen and the art of aut-ethnography: a tribute to Robert M. Pirsig. Disability & Society, 32(10), 1671-1676. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2017.1368889

Publication date: 6 Sep 2017 Added to AutiHub: 6 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) Full text OpenAlex source

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Authors

Publication authors
1
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 1 (100.0%)
  1. Damian Milton *

Abstract

With the passing of Robert M. Pirsig, I felt that it was an appropriate time to write a tribute to his work and the influence it has had on my own theorising in regard to autistic ways of being. This reflection utilises the concept of an ‘aut-ethnography’ to examine passages that I had highlighted word by word when I first read Pirsig’s book: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. These fragments contain links to a number of theoretical ‘lines of flight’ within my own work and that of others, from his concepts of dynamic ‘quality’ to his discussion on the tension between scientific method and lived experience.

Bibliography cited by this reference

Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.

Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 2 Oct 2026 14:02.

Cited references
14
With a DOI
6
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
8
5 / 14 (35.7%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
2 / 14 (14.3%)
References with detected author names
14 / 14 (100.0%)
Without detected author names
0
Without a structured title
2
Without a stable identifier
4
References with raw author names still to review
0
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
19
From DOI or external metadata
19
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
0
8 / 19 (42.1%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 11 / 19 (57.9%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
7 / 19 (36.8%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 7 / 8 (87.5%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 4 / 14 (28.6%).
  1. Robert M. Pirsig (1974). Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values .
    Type: Book OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W1488298501
    Crossref OpenAlex
  2. Chown N. (2016). Understanding and Evaluating Autism Theory . Understanding and Evaluating Autism Theory.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  4. Robert M. Pirsig (1991). Lila: An Inquiry into Morals .
    Type: Book OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W1518467193
    Crossref OpenAlex
  5. Fernand Deligny , Drew S. Burk , Catherine S. Porter , Bertrand Ogilvie (2015). The Arachnean and other texts .
    Type: Book OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2590926823
    Crossref OpenAlex
  8. Wenn Lawson * (2011). The Passionate Mind: How People with Autism Learn .
    Type: Book OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2945422391
    Crossref OpenAlex
  9. McDonnell A. (2014). Good Autism Practice: Autism, Happiness and Wellbeing . Good Autism Practice: Autism, Happiness and Wellbeing, 38.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  11. Milton D. (2013). CIT0006 Autonomy: The Journal of Critical Interdisciplinary Autism Studies, 1(2).
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  12. Milton D. (2016). CIT0008 Disability and Society, 31(2), 285.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  13. Alan C. Filley (1976). Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Academy of Management Review, 1(3), 134-135. Academy of Management.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.2307/257283 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W4243066295
    OpenAlex
  14. Jean M. Lynch (2015). Disability and Society . In Handbook of Sociology and Human Rights (pp. 107-116). Routledge.
    Type: Book chapter DOI: 10.4324/9781315634227-11 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W4245205255
    OpenAlex