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

Jean-Paul Sartre once declared waterskiing to be “the ideal limit of aquatic sports.” Aaron James, who is both an avid surfer and a professor of philosophy, vigorously disagrees. In these pages, he presents his surfer’s worldview as a foil to Sartre’s, along the way 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’s philosophy, he draws from surf culture and lingo—and engages with philosophers from Aristotle to Wittgenstein. In the process, he speaks to those of us in search of personal and social meaning—particularly in our current anxious moment—by way of real, authentic philosophy. In or out of the water.“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, thelcr