UKBouldering.com
the shizzle => shootin' the shit => music, art and culture => Topic started by: slackline on August 24, 2009, 11:21:31 am
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Friend who's into Philosophy told me about this call for Abstracts (unfortunately a month or so after the deadline).
Cheesy choice of title, but there,
For some bizzare reason I can't embed links to the site, even if they're shortened using TinyURL, can't even embed a lmgtfy.com link so search for "Climbing & Philosophy: Because It's There" on Google (no need for the double quotes) and the top hit should be the site for this, not much there beyond the Call for Abstracts though, which reads...
Call for Abstracts
Climbing & Philosophy: Because It’s There
Stephen E. Schmid, Editor
Abstracts for a prospective title in the Wiley‐Blackwell series Philosophy for Everyone, Climbing & Philosophy, are
solicited. Climbing & Philosophy will unite the insights of philosophers, interdisciplinary academics (psychologists, sociologists, etc.), and climbing insiders. The abstracts and resulting selected papers should be written for an educated but non‐specialized audience.
The scope of this volume includes climbing activities on mountains and rocks. Thus, discussions may include aspects of these activities, including but not limited to: climbing mountains/mountaineering (e.g., Everest, Kilimanjaro, Colorado Fourteeners), rock climbing (e.g., aid, free, and free solo climbing), bouldering, and gym climbing.
Possible topic areas and issues include, but are not limited to:
Metaphysical/Spiritual: Climbing and the meaning of life; Zen and climbing; Finding religion in the mountains‐‐ Mountains and the sacred; Climbing and the good life
Sport: Purity of the sport of climbing; Dangerous sports and self‐affirmation; Getting down alive is the only finish line; Speed climbing and the loss of mindfulness; Do climbing competitions pervert the purity of climbing?; Are first ascents true adventure?; Is gym climbing an authentic climbing experience? (In)compatibility of climbing and performance enhancing drugs
Ethics: Trust in one’s climbing partner—to cut or not cut the rope; Responsibilities of climbing guides—climber safety or successful summit?; Ethical issues of high‐risk sports; Is using supplemental oxygen cheating?; Climbing as a means of developing the Cardinal Virtues (prudence, justice, restraint/temperance, and courage)
Death & Dying: Living with death; Grief and affirmation in climbing; Motivating oneself after witnessing a climbing fatality; Camus, climbing, and The Myth of Sisyphus
Aesthetic: Rock climbing and its relationship to the aesthetics of dance; The beauty of a fine line/crack/route; Rock climbing as an aesthetic experience
Psychological: Climbing and the concepts of risk, self‐hood, and self‐knowledge; Climbing and the risk aversion paradox; Climbing and living in the moment; Climbing as the ultimate FLOW experience; Climbing and the expression of Self‐reliance; Hardship and character development of the big wall climber; Awareness of the limits of self in nature; Phenomenology and climbing; The intrinsic value of climbing Gender: Gender equality in climbing; Women climb smarter; Lynn Hill–setting the standard for free climbing El Capitan’s The Nose; Title IX and climbing
Environmental: Is climbing green?; Ethics of altering the environment when climbing (e.g., bolting, climber’s trails, pollution on Everest); Climbing and the human desire to dominate nature; Climbing and a sense of place
Cultural: Climbing and Aristotlean friendship; Base camp culture (e.g., Yosemite’s Camp Four, Everest Base Camp); Philosophical discussions of individual climbers (e.g., George Mallory, Lynn Hill, Tom Frost, Reinhold Messner, Yvon Chiounard, Edmund Hillary); Sherpa mountain culture
Guidelines for Abstracts and Contributions:
• Abstract of paper (approximately 200‐300 words) due by: July 1, 2009
• Accepted authors will receive notification by: August 1, 2009
• The submission deadline for accepted papers: December 31, 2009
• Final papers must be between 4000‐5000 words and be aimed at a general, educated audience.
Abstracts should be submitted electronically to Stephen E. Schmid . Other proposals for series titles also are welcome; please direct those to Fritz Allhoff
Looks like the resulting papers will be published some time next year (being that the deadline for submitted papers is 31st December 2009). Will try and remember to keep an eye out for them.
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I crush therefore I am.
Would have been interested in this. Shame it's past but look forward to seeing the papers.
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I wish I had seen this earlier!
I study Philosophy at Newcastle and actually wrote one of my papers this year on cutting the rope and the ethical dillema's etc involved!!!
Will have to keep a look out for this!
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There's wierd I actually did a philosohpy degree because I wanted to understand why I needed to climb. Neitzsche was a great help. As was Wittgenstein (but let's face it he always is).
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There's wierd I actually did a philosohpy degree because I wanted to understand why I needed to climb. Neitzsche was a great help. As was Wittgenstein (but let's face it he always is).
And did you find out?
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I spent so long reading to try to find out that I became too heavy for crimps and hence my opinions invalid as I could no longer cross reference my musings.
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There's wierd I actually did a philosohpy degree because I wanted to understand why I needed to climb. Neitzsche was a great help. As was Wittgenstein (but let's face it he always is).
And did you find out?
Yeah, because I'm fucked up; but in a good way.
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I'd say there is scope for an examination of solipsism and it's contribution to the reality of grades.
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what a crock of shit
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I bet the Nazi bird with spunk covered burnt chairs is there.
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Crap from people who are shit at climbing.
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Crap from people who are shit at climbing.
Never paused when in a necky situation on a run out above shit gear and wondered "What the fuck am I doing?"
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Crap from people who are shit at climbing.
That seems a bit harsh! I fail to see the link between philosophy and being shit at climbing.
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Crap from people who are shit at climbing.
That seems a bit harsh! I fail to see the link between philosophy and being shit at climbing.
That was a decidedly tempered response from hOUD :P
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what a crock of shit
I agree; thinking about stuff is just completely turd.
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thinking isn't cool. stuff 'n shit is cool.
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I fail to see the link between philosophy and being shit at climbing.
Just look at me and Mr Picalli.
Thinking and reading makes you shit at climbing.
Posh birds love it though.
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thinking isn't cool. stuff 'n shit is cool.
Word. And burning stuff is cool too.
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I thought it was just bitches & money.
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That seems a bit harsh!
It was I retract it. I'd stabbed myself in the tongue w/ a fork earlier and was feeling grumpy.
Blah, I get bored by self-perpetuating academic gash. I went climbing to avoid Biochemistry lectures not to feel at one w/ the world or reaffirm whatever the toss.
Never paused when in a necky situation on a run out above shit gear and wondered "What the fuck am I doing?"
Aye, from start to finish but I was always too stoned to reach any solid conclusions.
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Hope my comment wasn't taken seriously.
Dense there's only room for one sage in the sport and that place is occupied by yourself.
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Never paused when in a necky situation on a run out above shit gear and wondered "What the fuck am I doing?"
Aye, from start to finish but I was always too stoned to reach any solid conclusions.
:lol: Perhaps you did reach a conclusion, you just couldn't....ooh sweeties, yes please I'm famished.
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Quite.
More: Where am I? than Why am I here?
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Quite.
More: Where am I? than Why am I here?
That's deep, you should give this philosophy thing a go :P
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I have a random collection of vaguely-linked, poorly understood philosophies linking me with the outside world, which I have yet to link with anything in real life, but then I believe life's for learning lessons so I'll never link them. Unless I'm the link?
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The call for papers is a bit 6th form but I hope it produces some interesting papers. Personally I reckon that fiction explores some of these themes better than non-fiction or an academic approach can. The silences and gaps in Ed Drummonds or M John Harrisons stories speak volumes.
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M John Harrison's book is amazing, I don't know what it is about it but it really strikes a chord with me- the bleak imagery which he uses to describe every aspect of life from the point of view as a climber is so beautiful, and he captures the spirit of climbing, not in the act itself but in the effect on the psyche, and releases it in a way which seems so clear and precise to me as to ring true. I could write a whole essay on that book and I'm not even an expert!
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The silences and gaps in Ed Drummonds or M John Harrisons stories speak volumes.
Is that not just pausing to wipe your arse whilst reading on the throne?
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:whistle:
Here's his blog http://ambientehotel.wordpress.com/ (http://ambientehotel.wordpress.com/)
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M John Harrison's book is amazing, I don't know what it is about it but it really strikes a chord with me- the bleak imagery which he uses to describe every aspect of life from the point of view as a climber is so beautiful, and he captures the spirit of climbing, not in the act itself but in the effect on the psyche, and releases it in a way which seems so clear and precise to me as to ring true. I could write a whole essay on that book and I'm not even an expert!
is that M pronounced mmmm?
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People are talking about Harrisons' Climbers? I thought that was naff.
Unless I'm the link?
The Missing Link maybe? :shrug:
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People are talking about Harrisons' Climbers? I thought that was naff.
You would do :P
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I'm supprised that no one has mentioned "Games Climbers Play" yet. The article not the Book (though the book contains the article: however might not also also be said that the essence of the book (Aristotelian not Platonic (duh obviously as if ukb'ers would make such a schoolkid error) is contained already, with in the article). Starts to get pretty
tricky up-its-own-arsey pretty quickly this philosophy stuff.)
Anyway it is absolutely brilliant and the notion that those good enough to apply the rules of a less committing game to those of a more committing one (e.g. climbing a route (rules: rope and gear allowed) using bouldering's rules (no rope (obviously these days gay mats allowed) only boots and chalk still describes perfectly what constitutes progress in climbing
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i had that harrisons climbers shit recommemded to me too, now to go to the adding a wood burner thread
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I'm supprised that no one has mentioned "Games Climbers Play" yet. The article not the Book (though the book contains the article: however might not also also be said that the essence of the book (Aristotelian not Platonic (duh obviously as if ukb'ers would make such a schoolkid error) is contained already, with in the article). Starts to get pretty tricky up-its-own-arsey pretty quickly this philosophy stuff.)
Anyway it is absolutely brilliant and the notion that those good enough to apply the rules of a less committing game to those of a more committing one (e.g. climbing a route (rules: rope and gear allowed) using bouldering's rules (no rope (obviously these days gay mats allowed) only boots and chalk still describes perfectly what constitutes progress in climbing
One of my favourite climbing books that, the eponymous essay is indeed brilliant.
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Just stumbled across the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - Risk (http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2009/entries/risk/) and thought it worth sticking in here (although it actually has little on personal risk).
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I'm off work today and I was bored after the first sentence. It does make the reasons for climbing blindingly obvious however...
"Hence, a person with the utility function u1 is more risk averse at a point x than one with utility function u2 if and only if −u′′1(x)/u′1(x) > −u′′2(x)/u′2(x). This is the Arrow-Pratt measure of risk aversion."
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This is the Arrow-Pratt measure of risk aversion."
Since Games Climbers Play has already been mentioend, that better be a reference to Chuck Pratt's The View from Dead Horse Point
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"Hence, a person with the utility function u1 is more risk averse at a point x than one with utility function u2 if and only if −u′′1(x)/u′1(x) > −u′′2(x)/u′2(x). This is the Arrow-Pratt measure of risk aversion."
I was sketching up a rounded sandstone groove just the other day and that was foremost in my mind at the time....until I found a much better RP placement in a hidden seam, and that pretty much resolved the equation.