Description
Book SynopsisThis volume reveals the wisdom we can learn from sailing, a sport that pits human skills against the elements, tests the mettle and is a rich source of valuable lessons in life.
- Unravels the philosophical mysteries behind one of the oldest organized human activities
- Features contributions from philosophers and academics as well as from sailors themselves
- Enriches appreciation of the sport by probing its meaning and value
- Brings to life the many applications of philosophy to sailing and the profound lessons it can teach us
- A thought-provoking read for sailors and philosophers alike
Trade Review“I highly recommend the wisdom filled and engaging book Sailing - Philosophy For Everyone: Catching the Drift of Why We Sail edited by Patrick Goold, to any students who study philosophy, students of any disciplines, practicing sailors, or anyone interested in the great and timeless questions posed by philosophy since the beginning of time. This book is one that you will return to for inspiration, wisdom, and solace again and again.” (Blog Business World, 2 February 2013)
“I highly recommend the wisdom filled and engaging book Sailing - Philosophy For Everyone: Catching the Drift of Why We Sail edited by Patrick Goold, to any students who study philosophy, students of any disciplines, practicing sailors, or anyone interested in the great and timeless questions posed by philosophy since the beginning of time. This book is one that you will return to for inspiration, wisdom, and solace again and again.” (MoneyTalks, 3 February 2013)
“Edited by a professor of philosophy and with a (very good) foreword by yachting writer John Rousmaniere, this essay collection probes why we sail and what we can learn from it.” (Classic Boat, 1 October 2012)
"Sailing, moving from one place to another either for discovery or for economic survival reason must be the earliest mode of transport know to mankind that involved technology i.e a boat and a sail."(Existential Analysis, January 2015)
Table of ContentsForeword: The Craft and the Mystery viii
John Rousmaniere
The Philosophical Sailor: An Introduction to Sailing – Philosophy for Everyone xiv
Patrick Goold
Acknowledgments xxiii
Part 1 Passing Through Pain and Fear In the Place of Perpetual Undulation 1
1 Ships of Wood and Men of Iron: Voyaging the Old-Fashioned Way and Seeking Meaning in Adversity 3
Jack Stillwaggon
2 Winning Philosophy: Developing Patience, Inner Strength, and an Eye for the Good Lanes 12
Gary Jobson
3 “Hard a’ Lee”: Why the Work of Sailing Can Be Great Fun 23
Crista Lebens
4 Solo Sailing as Spiritual Practice: A Phenomenology of Mastery and Failure at Sea 36
Richard Hutch
Part 2 the Meaning of the Boat Three Schools of Thought 47
5 Buddha’s Boat: The Practice of Zen in Sailing 49
James Whitehill
6 Freedom of the Seas: The Stoic Sailor 61
Gregory Bassham and Tod Bassham
7 Sailors of the Third Kind: Sailing and Self-Becoming in the Shadow of Heraclitus 72
Steven Horrobin
Part 3 Beauty and other Aesthetic Aspects Of the Sailing Experience 83
8 What the Race to Mackinac Means 85
Nicholas Hayes
9 Sailing, Flow, and Fulfillment 96
Steve Matthews
10 On the Crest of the Wave: The Sublime, Tempestuous, Graceful, and Existential Facets of Sailing 109
Jesús Ilundáin-Agurruza, Luísa Gagliardini Graça, and José Ángel Jáuregui-Olaiz
11 Navigating What Is Valuable and Steering a Course in Pursuit of Happiness 122
Jesse Steinberg and Michael Stuckart
Part 4 Physics and Metaphysics for The Philosophical Sailor 133
12 Do You Have to Be (an) Einstein to Understand Sailing? 135
Sebastian Kuhn
13 Paradoxes of Sailing: The Physics of Sailing and the Import of Thought Experiments 148
John D. Norton
14 The Necessity of Sailing: Of Gods, Fate, and the Sea 164
Tamar M. Rudavsky and Nathaniel Rudavsky-Brody
15 The Channel: An Old Drama by Which the Soul of a Healthy Man is Kept Alive 176
Hilaire Belloc
Notes on Contributors 180
