A Philosophy of Walking – Frederic Gros/Verso(2014 but revised and expanded Second Edition 2023)

When this book was first published in 2014 in France it became a surprise best seller. It’s an examination of the philosophy of various thinkers for whom walking was central to their work -Nietzsche, Rimbaud, Kant, Rousseau, Thoreau….., and being mainly pre-20th century no women are mentioned although as this series has shown that has changed in more recent years. These are interspersed with Gros’s own thoughts on the subject. It’s a passionate affirmation of the simple life and joy in simple things. And it’s beautifully written: clear, simple, precise; the opposite of most academic writing. Gros himself is an academic and one of the world’s leading authorities on Foucault; he became a full professor at an extraordinarily young age.

Here are a few random extracts about some of the writers mentioned and their walks:

‘With Nietzsche walking meant rising, scrambling, climbing. At Sorrento in 1876. He chose for his daily walks the mountain parks behind the town. From Nice, he liked to climb the path leading straight uphill to the small village of Eze, where he was almost vertically above the sea. From Sils-Maria he took the paths climbing towards the high valleys. At Rapallo he conquered Monte Allegro(the principal summit in the region).’

On the other hand Kant took the same short walk every day; but then many people take a stroll as a light relief, relaxation: walking to ‘get some fresh air.’ Karl Gottlob Schelle, a friend of Kant’s, established that walking not only relaxes the body but also the soul. This is in contrast to working, when you have to remain the captive of your subject and think of only one thing at a time.

Walking is restful because, by changing our rhythm, it unshackles the limbs as it does the mind’s faculties. Walking in the first place means defying the constraints: choosing your route, your pace, and your representations. Schelle comes up with a complete Kantian aesthetic, applied to walking.

Verlaine called Arthur Rimbaud, ‘the man with soles of wind.’ Rimbaud himself, when still very young, had described himself thus: ‘I’m a pedestrian, nothing more.’ Rimbaud walked throughout his life – obstinately, with passion. Between the ages of 15 and 17, he walked to reach great cities: the Paris of literary hopes, to become known in Parnassian circles, to meet poets like himself. To Brussels, to pursue a career in journalism. Between 20 and 24, he several times tried the route to the South, returning home for the winter. There were incessant shuttles between Mediterranean ports(Marseilles or Genoa) and Charleville, walking towards the sun. And from the age of 25 until his death at the age of 37, desert roads. The last decade of his life was spent mainly between Aden and Harar. After writing his two books of poetry by the age of 20 which would secure his future fame, he would never write another poem. Fortunately there were plenty of letters. Before his death in Marseilles where he was cared for with immense devotion, by his sister Isobel, he started hallucinating: he saw himself walking, departing once again- He was in Harar, and had to leave for Aden.

There are many other facets of the philosophy of walking and many other writers discussed in this most enjoyable book. Two of the most important and still highly relevant and influential today, are Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Henry David Thoreau. Both deserve entries in their own right.