All 36 Uses of

function
in
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

So listen: A motorcycle may be divided for purposes of classical rational analysis by means of its component assemblies and by means of its functions.
Part 1 *

functions = purposes

To know what the components are for, a division according to functions is necessary: A motorcycle may be divided into normal running functions and special, operator-controlled functions.
Part 1

To know what the components are for, a division according to functions is necessary: A motorcycle may be divided into normal running functions and special, operator-controlled functions.
Part 1

To know what the components are for, a division according to functions is necessary: A motorcycle may be divided into normal running functions and special, operator-controlled functions.
Part 1

"A thing exists," he said, "if a world without it can't function normally."
Part 3 *

function = work

He had described generally how scientists arrive at facts and theories but now he penetrated narrowly into his own personal experience with the mathematical functions that established his early fame.
Part 3 *

functions = a mathematical expression that describes a relationship between variables

Normal running functions may be divided into functions during the intake cycle, functions during the compression cycle, functions during the power cycle and functions during the exhaust cycle.†
Part 1

Normal running functions may be divided into functions during the intake cycle, functions during the compression cycle, functions during the power cycle and functions during the exhaust cycle.†
Part 1

Normal running functions may be divided into functions during the intake cycle, functions during the compression cycle, functions during the power cycle and functions during the exhaust cycle.†
Part 1

Normal running functions may be divided into functions during the intake cycle, functions during the compression cycle, functions during the power cycle and functions during the exhaust cycle.†
Part 1

Normal running functions may be divided into functions during the intake cycle, functions during the compression cycle, functions during the power cycle and functions during the exhaust cycle.†
Part 1

I could go on about which functions occur in their proper sequence during each of the four cycles, then go on to the operatorcontrolled functions and that would be a very summary description of the underlying form of a motorcycle.†
Part 1

I could go on about which functions occur in their proper sequence during each of the four cycles, then go on to the operatorcontrolled functions and that would be a very summary description of the underlying form of a motorcycle.†
Part 1

This description would cover the "what" of the motorcycle in terms of components, and the "how" of the engine in terms of functions.†
Part 1

Even the "operator" is a kind of personalityless robot whose performance of a function on the machine is completely mechanical.†
Part 1

A motorcycle functions entirely in accordance with the laws of reason, and a study of the art of motorcycle maintenance is really a miniature study of the art of rationality itself.†
Part 2

I was talking about these concepts yesterday when I said that a motorcycle can be divided according to its components and according to its functions.†
Part 2

It looked as though the time spans of scientific truths are an inverse function of the intensity of scientific effort.†
Part 2

He felt that institutions such as schools, churches, governments and political organizations of every sort all tended to direct thought for ends other than truth, for the perpetuation of their own functions, and for the control of individuals in the service of these functions.†
Part 2

He felt that institutions such as schools, churches, governments and political organizations of every sort all tended to direct thought for ends other than truth, for the perpetuation of their own functions, and for the control of individuals in the service of these functions.†
Part 2

The a priori concepts have their origins in human nature so that they're neither caused by the sensed object nor bring it into being, but provide a kind of screening function for what sense data we will accept.†
Part 2

If we can show that a world without Quality functions abnormally, then we have shown that Quality exists, whether it's defined or not.†
Part 3

The world can function without it, but life would be so dull as to be hardly worth living.†
Part 3

Since the world obviously doesn't function normally when Quality is subtracted, Quality exists, whether it's defined or not.†
Part 3

If so, did that mean that digital computers, which function exclusively in terms of ones and zeros, should be limited to just ones for scientific work?†
Part 3

For fifteen days, he said, he strove to prove that there couldn't be any such functions.†
Part 3

He was about to enter a bus, and at the moment when he put his foot on the step, the idea came to him, without anything in his former thoughts having paved the way for it, that the transformations he had used to define the Fuchsian functions were identical with those of non-Euclidian geometry.†
Part 3

Then with more concentration you will begin to see the screw as not even an object at all but as a collection of functions.†
Part 3

In technical composition a similar distinction exists between physical description and functional description.†
Part 4

Then, next, it is described in terms of its methods: its functions as they occur in sequence.†
Part 4

If you confuse physical and functional description, substance and method, you get all tangled up and so does the reader.†
Part 4

The one which carefully enumerated all the motorcycle parts and functions?†
Part 4

Definitions:

(1) (function as in: Its main function is to...)
purpose, job, or natural activity
(2) (function as in: can't function well without sleep)
work or operate -- sometimes to work or operate normally or in a particular way
(3) (function as in: I'm attending a function tonight)
a social event or ceremony -- especially one attended for work or out of a sense of duty
(4) (function as in: oxygen is a function of altitude)
saying one results from another; or saying that the amount of one thing is dependent upon the value of another.

If x is a function of y, then x results from y; or the amount of x can be calculated based on the amount of y.
(5) (function as in: Amazon's new search function)
computer code that performs a specific task
(6) (function as in: a mathematical function)
a formula or mathematical expression that describes a relationship between variables
(7) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)
meaning too rare to warrant focus:

For more specialized meanings in math and chemistry, see a comprehensive dictionary.