Philosophy for Passengers

by Michael Marder

A philosophical guide to passengerhood, with reflections on time, space, existence, boredom, our sense of self, and our sense of the senses.While there are entire bookstore sections—and even entire bookstores—devoted to travel, there have been few books on the universal experience of being a passenger. With this book, philosopher Michael Marder fills the gap, offering a philosophical guide to passengerhood. He takes readers from ticketing and preboarding (preface and introduction) through a series of stops and detours (reflections on topics including time, space, existence, boredom, our sense of self, and our sense of the senses) to destination and disembarking (conclusion).  Marder finds that the experience of passengers in the twenty-first century is experience itself, stretching well beyond railroad tracks and airplane flight patterns. On his journey through passengerhood, he considers, among many other things, passenger togetherness, which goes hand in hand with passenger loneliness; flyover country and the idea of placeness; and Descartes in an airplane seat. He tells us that the word metaphor means transport in Greek and discusses the gray area between literalness and metaphoricity; explains the connection between reading and riding; and ponders the difference between destination and destiny. Finally, a Beckettian you might not be able to disembark, yet you must disembark. After the voyage in the world ends, the journey of understanding begins.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Travel

234 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 3, 2022

About the author

Michael Marder is IKERBASQUE Research Professor of Philosophy at the University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU), Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. An author of seven books and over 100 articles, he is a specialist in phenomenology, political thought, and environmental philosophy.

Reviews

[Linnéa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice fitting book for passage of time and something you can pick up every now and then without having to read it all in one go. Some nice thoughts and reflections which spurred my own - overall enjoyable

[Brittany Y · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this at a small, local bookshop in Italy. Read in planes, trains & automobiles between Rome, Florence, Ortesi & Venice. I enjoyed this bite-sized philosophy book focused on passenger hood in every regard.

[Yifei Men · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spotted this book at MIT press while on a trip, and the subject matter of passengerhood resonated well.

It's been a while since I've picked up a book so academic in tone and rhetoric, and it is both mesmirizing at initial encounters and distancing in its recourse. Overall, using the concept of passengerhood as a conceit for analysis of our experiences and life was an attractive entrypoint. Marder does a wonderful job, in my opinion, holding up the concept to different lenses: anecdotal, emotive, linguistic, logical, historical. The short chapters interspersed with abstract paintings left a sense of capaciousness and wonder that is quite welcome. I must say that the middle sections left me quite befuddled, or quite lost at sea, perhaps owing to my own lack of education in the philosophy department.

At the end of the day, I don't think I have super concrete takeaways from the book, but its provocation is emotionally resonant in a time where the everyday seems to be a hustle onwards, with some vague destination (richer, better, happier) that is as elusive as it is within grasp; where we are both headed there on this journey we embark, while also helplessly shuttled on the vehicle that we've boarded; where we're surrounded, bombarded by happenings and people, but feel intimately alone, insular in our paths -- paradoxical but non contradictory.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

A graphical short book about what it means to be a passenger in society, and how being a passenger provides a window to our place in society. Interesting graphics in the short book by The MIT Press. There are times when the pondering of big ideas in this book tends to wander, chapters are marked with trips and journeys of passage. The graphics are striking but somewhat abstract. (3.6-3.8/5.0 stars).

[Eduarda Silva]

19 longos dias de viagem, que terminaram com uma delicadeza que só emociona uma portuguesa: pensar em destino (destiny) e destino (destination) com Fernando Pessoa.

Livro difícil, mas com visões e temas interessantes para quem viaja todos os dias - fisicamente ou intelectualmente. Contudo, haverão outras perspectivas, igualmente válidas.

Terei de reler, um dia... 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Movie Goer · Rating 4 out of 5]

We’re strange aren’t we?
(The book ended when my passengerhood on the trip to Portugal ended and my flight landed, good timing)

[Alberto Sepúlveda]

Menos guay de lo que me esperaba. Algunas ideas son chulas. Hay una especie de intento de hacer como en los Pasajes de Benjamin pero claro, con Benjamin toda comparación es para perderla.