Philosophical Ridings: Motorcycles and the Meaning of Life

When you are driving at 140 km/h along the road, with the elements in your face, you don't normally think of biking as a particularly philosophical activity. But Craig Bourne has managed to extract a remarkable number of philosophical issues from it - from the meaning of life (and death) to the nature of aesthetic judgments, with many points in between." -- Graham Priest - St Andrews University

As sufferer of motorbike revvings, splutterings and fumes outside my Soho window, I was ready to take an instant dislike to this book. How wrong prejudices can be! Craig Bourne bikes us gently through problems of death, dreams, spanners in the works - and much more. -- Peter Cave

Suzanne Ferriss - Suzanne Ferriss, editor, International Journal of Motorcycle Studies (ijms.nova.edu), and co-author of Motorbike (Reaktion Books)."A thought-provoking examination of philosophical issues relevant to motorcycling, from aesthetics to justice and, ultimately, the nature of death and existence."

When you are driving at 140 km/h along the road, with the elements in your face, you don't normally think of biking as a particularly philosophical activity. But Craig Bourne has managed to extract a remarkable number of philosophical issues from it - from the meaning of life (and death) to the nature of aesthetic judgments, with many points in between. -- Graham Priest - St Andrews University

Product Description
From Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance to The Motorcycle Diaries, to be a biker is to be on the road to the meaning of life. What would the existentialists have to say about facing death on a bike? Can your motorcycle be as much a work of art as a Michelangelo painting? And why is it that bikers are so often political rebels? Philosopher and biker Craig Bourne shows for the first time the thoughtful side of the biker, and takes us on a fun trip through the philosophy of motorcycles.

Paperback: 210 pages
Publisher: Oneworld Publications (June 2007)
Language: English