Surfing with Sartre: An Aquatic Inquiry into a Life of Meaning

by Aaron James Narrated by Tristan Morris

Overview

From the bestselling author of Assholes: A Theory, a book that—in the tradition of Shopclass as Soulcraft, Barbarian Days and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance—uses the experience and the ethos of surfing to explore key concepts in philosophy.

The existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre once declared "the ideal limit of aquatic sports . . . is waterskiing." The avid surfer and lavishly credentialed academic philosopher Aaron James vigorously disagrees, and in Surfing with Sartre he intends to expound the thinking surfer's view of the matter, in the process elucidating such philosophical categories as freedom, being, phenomenology, morality, epistemology, and even the emerging values of what he terms "leisure capitalism." In developing his unique surfer-philosophical worldview, he draws from his own experience of surfing and from surf culture and lingo, and includes many relevant details from the lives of the philosophers, from Aristotle to Wittgenstein, with whose thought he engages. In the process, he'll speak to readers in search of personal and social meaning in our current anxious moment, by way of doing real, authentic philosophy.

Editorial Reviews

The New York Times Book Review - James Ryerson

Savvy philosophers distill their core insight into a short phrase. For Adam Smith it was "invisible hand," for David Hume "confined generosity," for John Rawls "veil of ignorance." In James's book, the fundamental idea is "adaptive attunement." This is what he takes to be "the essence of surfing." For someone to be surfing, three conditions must be met: He must be attuned to a shifting phenomenon outside of himself (like a wave); he must be adjusting himself in response to it (adapting), "so as to be carried along by its propulsive forces"; and he must be doing so intentionally and "for its own sake"—that is, because negotiating the world in this manner strikes him as intrinsically valuable. You are surfing if and only if you are adaptively attuned. By defining surfing in this formal and abstract way, James frees himself to talk not just about surfing waves but also about surfing "in an extended sense": for example, "surfing" through a cocktail party conversation or down a busy Manhattan sidewalk. Surfers surf when they are in the water, but in other aspects of their lives, too—as can we all, and well we should, James contends. He presents adaptive attunement as a fruitful way to understand how much of the world works, as well as a winning strategy for life.

Publishers Weekly

06/26/2017
In this thoughtful meditation on surfing and philosophy, James (Assholes) explores epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics. He believes that a surfer knows the world simply by being “adaptively attuned” to it, and that this knowledge allows the surfer to be carried along purposefully by “propulsive forces.” James likens the surfing lineup—where surfers wait their turn to catch waves—to democratic egalitarianism in that it allows a fair distribution of waves among capable surfers; thus, surfing culture creates its own political and ethical systems. Surfing teaches us that transcendence occurs, James observes, when we are attuned to the deep ways that we’re connected. Throughout, James encourages readers to embrace surfer wisdom in order to achieve personal acceptance in the world: “Accept. Persist. Focus. Leave time. Don’t compare. And mix things up.” Even for nonsurfers, James convincingly illustrates the ways in which catching a wave can change how people understand the world and try to make meaning from experiences. (Aug.)

From the Publisher

Erudite yet engaging . . . strikes a winning balance between waxing wise and catching waves.” —NPR 

“A marvelous analysis.” —The New York Times Book Review

“[James] is a bell-clear writer . . . and, here, takes home the gold.” —San Francisco Chronicle
 
“Illuminating. . . . A clear and well-informed guide.” —The Philosopher

“A beautiful book, essentially a dialogue with Jean-Paul Sartre about work and play. He’s arguing that working less and playing more, especially in the surf, is not only an okay choice but a moral one.” —Jaimal Yogis, Tampa Bay Times

“Incredibly intelligent and compelling. . . . Provocative and pure. . . . Render[s] complicated ideas easily comprehensible by way of a context of surfing attitude.” —The Maine Edge

“Thoughtful and life-affirming. . . . Funny, enthralling and above all wise, Surfing with Sartre offers fresh insights into the human condition that will interest the academic theorist, the casual surfer and everyone in between.” —Shelf Awareness

“Carefully and conscientiously crafted and deeply thoughtful. . . . Addresses major questions in philosophy from his unique perspective as both a philosopher and former surfer.” —Reason and Meaning

“Provocative. . . . Entertaining. . . . [A] nimble set of essays on topics such as work and freedom.” —Kirkus Reviews

“[A] thoughtful meditation on surfing and philosophy. . . . Even for nonsurfers, James convincingly illustrates the ways in which catching a wave can change how people understand the world and try to make meaning from experiences.” —Publishers Weekly

“Intellectually bracing. . . . Philosophy stoked with the adrenaline rush of riding one gnarly wave.” —Booklist

“[James] knows how to make us think deeply in a fun way. . . . The idea of having a University of California, Irvine, philosophy professor explain key concepts like freedom, being, and epistemology from a surfer's perspective is way too cool.” —Library Journal

Library Journal

03/15/2017
Philosophy I adore, and though surfing is not in my skill set, the idea of having a University of California, Irvine, philosophy professor explain key concepts like freedom, being, and epistemology from a surfer's perspective is way too cool. (Existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre once said that "the ideal limit of aquatic sports…is waterskiing," which explains the title.) As with his popular Assholes: A Theory, James knows how to make us think deeply in a fun way. Best comparison: Eric Kaplan's Does Santa Exist? A Philosophical Investigation.

Kirkus Reviews

2017-05-15
I surf, therefore I am: a good-natured exploration of some of the big questions philosophy raises, all while hanging 10.In this nimble set of essays on topics such as work and freedom, James (Philosophy/Univ. of California, Irving; Assholes: A Theory of Donald Trump, 2016, etc.) gives a fine if idiosyncratic account of how philosophers puzzle out the world—idiosyncratic because it's framed from the point of view of a surfer. Now, existentialism is one thing, existential threat quite another. One of the biggest questions facing any thinking person is how to deal with climate change, on which James consults a South African fellow wave-rider, who offers one approach to the problem, saying, "Bru, don't stress." That's all well and good, but of course it's not the end of the question, and James allows that maybe some stress may be necessary and that contingency suggests that "the surfer can contribute by not working and going surfing instead," checking out of the industrial/capitalist system that is doing so much damage. But more: as the author writes elsewhere, surfing evokes the better angels, teaching its practitioners to cultivate "the highest expression of human perceptual capacity, the human's way of at once being and doing." When you start talking being and doing, then you're in Sartrian territory, and though it's hard to imagine the diminutive French philosopher riding the big waves, it's not hard to see his influence on James' declaration that "surfing is freedom"—even if Sartre would qualify the statement by insisting that freedom is something more than simply not "working a crap job (here defined as a job that consistently requires missing good waves)." Throughout, the book is provocative and less laid-back than it might appear at first glance. A 12-page glossary defines some surfing and philosophy terms alike. Heidegger as ho-daddy? The approach is unusual, but to fruitful—and entertaining—ends.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172166501
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	08/08/2017
Edition description:	Unabridged

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Excerpted from "Surfing with Sartre"
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