Linfield College professor and local racer Jesús Ilundáin-Agurruza is the co-editor of a new book that explores the philosophy of cycling.
The book, Cycling—Philosophy for Everyone: A Philosophical Tour de Force (Wiley-Blackwell, August 2010), is a collection of essays that its publisher says is “meant to stretch the off-road mental muscles of cyclists.”
“The book wheels its way through the terrain of life’s more complicated philosophical questions with essayists covering everyone from Lance Armstrong to Socrates, and discussing cycling’s identity crisis, ethical issues related to success, women bikers, critical mass rides and the environment.”
not teaching or writing.
Essays in the book include thoughts on bicycling’s role in living a simpler life, a first-person perspective on commuting year-round in Iceland, and other deep thoughts from two-wheeled philosophers. Throughout the book, Ilundáin-Agurruza, “muses about how a bicycle, basically a ‘triangle on two circles, as Pythagoras might conceive it,’ might help us live flourishing lives.”
Ilundáin-Agurruza teaches philosophy at Linfield College’s McMinnville campus (they also have a Portland campus). He also competes locally as a category 2 road racer. Michael Austin, a philosophy professor from Eastern Kentucky University, co-edited the book.
You can preview the book and get more details at Powells.com.