Why we drive : toward a philosophy of the open road

Why we drive Toward a philosophy of the open road

Matthew B. Crawford

Book - 2020

From the author of the landmark "Shop Class as Soulcraft," a brilliant, first-of-its-kind celebration of driving as a unique pathway of human freedom, one now critically threatened by automation. Once we were drivers, the open road alive with autonomy, adventure, danger, trust, and speed. Today we are as likely to be in the back seat of an Uber as behind the wheel ourselves. Tech giants are hurling us toward a shiny, happy self-driving future, selling utopia but equally keen to advertise to a captive audience strapped into another expensive device. Are we destined, then, to become passengers, not drivers? "Why We Drive" reveals that much more may be at stake than we might think. Ten years ago, in the New York Times-bests...elling "Shop Class as Soulcraft," philosopher-mechanic Matthew B. Crawford -- a University of Chicago PhD who owned his own motorcycle shop -- made a revolutionary case for manual labor, one that ran headlong against the pretensions of white-collar office work. Now, using driving as a window through which to view the broader changes wrought by technology on all aspects of contemporary life, Crawford investigates the driver's seat as one of the few remaining domains of skill, exploration, play -- and freedom. Blending philosophy and hands-on storytelling, Crawford grounds the narrative in his own experience in the garage and behind the wheel, recounting his decade-long restoration of a vintage Volkswagen as well as his journeys to thriving automotive subcultures across the country. Crawford leads us on an irreverent but deeply considered inquiry into the power of faceless bureaucracies, the importance of questioning mindless rules, and the battle for democratic self-determination against the surveillance capitalists. A meditation on the competence of ordinary people, "Why We Drive" explores the genius of our everyday practices on the road, the rewards of 'folk engineering', and the existential value of occasionally being scared shitless. Witty and ingenious throughout, "Why We Drive" is a rebellious and daring celebration of the irrepressible human spirit.

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Location Call Number   Status
2nd Floor 388.342/Crawford Due Nov 24, 2024
Subjects
Crawford, Matthew B. > Anecdotes.
Automobile driving > Psychological aspects.
Automated vehicles > Social aspects.
Automobiles > Social aspects.
Technological innovations > 21st century.
Anecdotes.
Genres
Anecdotes
Published
New York, NY : William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers [2020]
Language
English
Main Author
Matthew B. Crawford (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
360 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 321-348) and index.
ISBN
9780062741967
  • Machine generated contents note: Rolling Your Own
  • Breaking Down: 1972 Jeepster Commando
  • Project Rat Rod
  • Old Cars: A Thorn in the Side of the Future
  • The Diminishing Returns of Idiot-Proofing as a Design Principle
  • Feeling the Road
  • Automation as Moral Reeducation
  • Folk Engineering
  • Motor Sport and the Spirit of Play
  • The Motor Equivalent of War
  • The Rise of the Bicycle Moralists (A Digression)
  • Two Derbies and a Scramble
  • Act I Demolition Derby
  • Act II Adult Soap Box Derby
  • Act III Hare Scramble
  • Democracy in the Desert: The Caliente 250
  • Self-Government, or Not
  • Prelude: The DMV Experience
  • "Reckless Driving:" Rules, Reasonableness, and the Flavor of Authority
  • Managing Traffic: Three Rival Versions of Rationality
  • Road Rage, Other Minds, and the Traffic Community
  • Meet the New Boss
  • Street View: Seeing Like Google
  • A Glorious, Collisionless Manner of Living
  • If Google Built Cars
  • Concluding Remarks: Sovereignty on the Road
  • Postscript: The Road to La Honda.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

A philosopher stakes his claim to freedom and the open road. What do driving cars and riding motorcycles have to do with philosophy? Quite a bit, it seems, at least when Crawford is steering the discussion. As in his previous books, Shop Class as Soulcraft and The World Beyond Your Head, the author brings an easy and wide-ranging erudition to his subject--in this case, our relationships to our vehicles. The book might have been titled In Defense of Driving. Despite his mostly sober prose, Crawford's "critical, humanistic inquiry" is ultimately a passionate appeal to the importance of the autonomous individual in the face of the dehumanizing pressure of automation. Driverless cars meet a worthy opponent in Crawford, who elegantly dissuades us from a future in which "the world becomes a techno-zoo for defeated people, like the glassy-eyed creatures in WALL-E, or like the lab rats who are raised in Plexiglas enclosures." No matter how many lives you think could be saved by removing imperfect humans from the driving equation or how tempting you find it to turn your commute into more time looking at your phone, this book will have you pining for the freedom the open road has always represented. Crawford can get carried away, as in a too-detailed account (with diagrams) of rebuilding a Volkswagen engine, but his delight in his subject makes for an enjoyable reading experience even for the non-enthusiast. The text is yet more evidence for Crawford's argument, now extending over three books, that paying attention to and placing ourselves in the material world brings a certain satisfaction that we neglect at our peril. Employing memoir, journalism, cultural criticism, and political philosophy--and never shying away from the contentious ("An Ode to Redneck Women")--the author makes being human seem worthwhile. Even if Crawford is fighting a losing battle, he fights it valiantly, even heroically. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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