Will Buckingham

Stories & Philosophy

Finding Our Sea-Legs

Finding Our Sea-Legs is my first philosophy book, published by Kingston University Press in 2009. It is at one and the same time a philosophy book, a collection of strange and sometimes unsettling stories, and a voyage of sorts through some of the more enduring questions of ethics. The argument grows out of the following two philosophical suggestions (I would not want to go so far as to call them propositions): the first comes from Aristotle, and is the suggestion that ethics is like navigation; and second comes from the storytelling traditions of India, and is the suggestion that stories are like the sea. The book tries to chart a passage between these two suggestions, to weave a suggestive philosophy made of stories.

The book has been reviewed by David Chapman, over on Approaching Aro.

Will Buckingham writes thinkBuddha, my favorite blog. Finding Our Sea-Legs: Ethics, Experience and the Ocean of Stories is his first book of “Buddhish” ethical philosophy. It is a remarkable and important work.
The book is unconventional in form: written in colloquial English with little jargon. It tells many stories: about talking fish, million-year-old princesses, and the need to lower your mast as you near the horizon, lest your boat get stuck between the sky and the sea.
Finding our Sea-Legs is also unconventional in content. It is one of very few books about a key problem in contemporary philosophy: the tension between the urgency of ethics and their inherent ambiguity.

You can find another, contrasting, review over on philosopher Robert Ellis’s Moral Objectivity website.

Review excerpts

Here are some excerpts from reviews of my various books. They are refreshed at random on reloading this page.

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“A remarkable and important work. The book is unconventional in form: written in colloquial English with little jargon. It tells many stories: about talking fish, million-year-old princesses, and the need to lower your mast as you near the horizon, lest your boat get stuck between the sky and the sea. Finding our Sea-Legs is also unconventional in content. It is one of very few books about a key problem in contemporary philosophy: the tension between the urgency of ethics and their inherent ambiguity.”
Approaching Aro on Finding our Sea-Legs

“Cargo Fever is certainly a gripping adventure story, but it’s also an intriguing contribution to the the genre of the ape-monster story… Cargo Fever is a thrilling and thoughtful read, perhaps because its author isn’t as dully academic about monster stories as I am, but most likely because it’s a plain old good novel, one that engages ideas without piling them too high or too heavily onto a rollicking plot.”
Steve Himmer of Necessary Fiction on Cargo Fever

“What a wonderfully unexpected book! A fantastical story full of comedy and adventure and a story-line that can rightly be described as exotic. Great and serious fun!”
West Midlands Readers’ Network on Cargo Fever

“Buckingham is a wonderful storyteller and paints a vivid picture of Indonesian life… but it is his humour and his lively style that ensure the pages just keep on turning. Another triumph for this small Birmingham publisher.”

The Birmingham Post on Cargo Fever

“Simply written, with a subtleness that adds sophistication to a picture book, Buckingham, who is author of Tindal Street Press’s Cargo Fever, has shown that he has a tender touch… It’s a book to treasure.”
The Birmingham Post on the Snorgh

“A gripping and rapid pace from page one; Cargo Fever is both surprising and intriguing… The writing style and diverse characters capture the imagination, making it a challenge for anyone to put down…”
Real Travel Magzine

“Buckingham skilfully weaves together his disparate narrative strands, before bringing the story to a satisfying conclusion, resulting in a novel that is gripping, thought provoking and entertaining in equal measure.”
UC Magazine on Cargo Fever

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