A Philosophy of Walking
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3.2 • 10 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
This philosophical ode to finding joy in simple things explores how walking has influenced history’s greatest thinkers—from Henry David Thoreau and John Muir to Gandhi and Nietzsche.
“It is only ideas gained from walking that have any worth.” —Nietzsche
In this French bestseller, leading thinker and philosopher Frédéric Gros charts the many different ways we get from A to B—the pilgrimage, the promenade, the protest march, the nature ramble—and reveals what they say about us.
Gros draws attention to other thinkers who also saw walking as something central to their practice. On his travels he ponders Thoreau’s eager seclusion in Walden Woods; the reason Rimbaud walked in a fury, while Nerval rambled to cure his melancholy. He shows us how Rousseau walked in order to think, while Nietzsche wandered the mountainside to write. In contrast, Kant marched through his hometown every day, exactly at the same hour, to escape the compulsion of thought. Brilliant and erudite, A Philosophy of Walking is an entertaining and insightful manifesto for putting one foot in front of the other.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this meditation on the mental pleasures and requirements of walking, French philosopher Gros (Michel Foucault) focuses on long walks among nature, where even if "fog shrouds the mountains or rain starts to fall in sheets," the walker must forge ahead. On such journeys, one throws "off the yoke of routine," leaving the confines of the office for the freedom of the road, where creativity can ferment. Such trips call for slowness, allowing "every hour, every minute, every second to breathe, to deepen." They also require solitude to find one's basic rhythm, the pattern "that suits you, so well that you don't tire and can keep it up for ten hours," although small groups allow for company without the need for disruptive conversation. In between these ruminations are chapters on philosophers, writers, and activists well-known for their walking habits: Nietzsche, whose long walks in the Italian hills helped his crippling headaches; Kant, renowned for his daily five o'clock walk in any weather; Rimbaud, who travelled to Paris several times as a teenager, mainly on foot, then spent his last few years in the desert, "walking towards the sun"; and Gandhi. who spent much of his life walking around India, fighting for independence. This elegant book inspires consideration of an oft-overlooked subject.
Customer Reviews
Changes the way we look at this mundane task
Too often nowadays we see walking as something that gets in the way; it is the brief interlude between getting out of your car and arriving at the destination. This common thread between all the great writers of our time is beautifully examined.