Stephen E. Schmid 
Climbing – Philosophy for Everyone 
Because It’s There

Climbing – Philosophy for Everyone presents a
collection of intellectually stimulating new essays that address
the philosophical issues relating to risk, ethics, and other
aspects of climbing that are of interest to everyone from novice
climbers to seasoned mountaineers.

* Represents the first collection of essays to exclusively
address the many philosophical aspects of climbing

* Includes essays that challenge commonly accepted views of
climbing and climbing ethics

* Written accessibly, this book will appeal to everyone from
novice climbers to seasoned mountaineers

* Includes a foreword written by Hans Florine

* Shortlisted for the Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain
Literature, 2010

Table of Content

Foreword ix
Hans Florine

Acknowledgments xiii
Stephen E. Schmid

Philosophizing into the Void: An Introduction to Climbing – Philosophy for Everyone 1
Stephen E. Schmid

Part I Tying In: Why Risk Climbing 11

1 Climbing and the Stoic Conception of Freedom 13
Kevin Krein

2 Risk and Reward: Is Climbing Worth It? 24
Paul Charlton

3 Why Climb? 37
Joe Fitschen

4 Jokers on the Mountain: In Defense of Gratuitous Risk 49
Heidi Howkins Lockwood

Part II Quest for the Summit: Cultivating the Climber 65

5 High Aspirations: Climbing and Self-Cultivation 67
Brian Treanor

6 More than Meets the ‘I’: Values of Dangerous Sport 81
Pam R. Sailors

7 Mountaineering and the Value of Self-Sufficiency 93
Philip A. Ebert and Simon Robertson

8 It Ain’t Fast Food: An Authentic Climbing Experience 106
Ben Levey

9 Zen and the Art of Climbing 117
Eric Swan

Part III Cutting the Rope: Climbing Ethics 131

10 Freedom and Individualism on the Rocks 133
Dane Scott

11 Hold Manufacturing: Why You May Be Wrong About What’s Right 145
William Ramsey

12 The Ethics of Free Soloing 158
Marcus Agnafors

13 Making Mountains Out of Heaps: Environmental Protection One Stone at a Time 169
Dale Murray

Part IV Mixed Climbing: Philosophy on Varied Terrain 181

14 From Route Finding to Redpointing: Climbing Culture as a Gift Economy 183
Debora Halbert

15 Are You Experienced? What You Don’t Know About Your Climbing Experience 195
Stephen M. Downes

16 What is a Climbing Grade Anyway? 206
Richard G. Graziano

17 The Beauty of a Climb 218
Gunnar Karlsen

Climbing Glossary 230

Notes on Contributors 237

About the author

Editor

Stephen E. Schmid is Assistant Professor of Philosophy
at the University of Wisconsin-Rock County. His doctoral work was
in philosophy of mind and his current research focuses on
motivation in sport and education. Schmid has been playing in the
mountains and on rock for more than 20 years.

Series Editor

Fritz Allhoff is an Assistant Professor in the
Philosophy Department at Western Michigan University, as well as a
Senior Research Fellow at the Australian National
University’s Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics.
In addition to editing the Philosophy for Everyone series,
Allhoff is the volume editor or co-editor for several titles,
including Wine & Philosophy (Wiley-Blackwell, 2007),
Whiskey & Philosophy (with Marcus P. Adams, Wiley,
2009), and Food & Philosophy (with Dave Monroe,
Wiley-Blackwell, 2007).