philosophy of sport [1em] [width=.5]squirrel · 2019. 9. 29. · sports and moral education let’s...

Philosophy of Sport

David W. Agler

David W. Agler Philosophy of Sport 1/38

Sport and moral character

Does sport make us more moral?Sport has no effect on moralitySports and moral educationMorality and coachingAthletes as role models

Does sport make us more moral?

One question we might ask concerning sport is its impact on our moral character? Wemight say that it

1. Neutral thesis: has no effect on morality

2. Positive thesis: makes individuals more moral

3. Negative thesis: makes individuals less moral

Practically, knowing the answer to this question is important.

1. effects on personal involvement

2. effects on children

3. effects on society

Sport has no effect on morality

Reductionism

Some argue for reductionism. This theory contends that

1. there is no distinctive morality to sport

2. morality is sport is simply a reflection of morality in society

3. thus, sport does not make us morally better or worse.

Reductionism

Reductionism: objections

Reductionism faces some seriousobjections.

Sports often have values that run counterto societal values.

Example

Hyland’s (p.221) example that play onlocal, street basketball court is determinedby the best team (“we got winners”’).Individuals are willing to overcome racialprejudice to keep playing.

Figure: Drew Hyland

Example

Figure: Drew Hyland

Example

Figure: Drew Hyland

Other values that might be emphasized more than they are in society

Some of these might be considered virtues:

1. concern and appreciation of excellence

2. teamwork

3. playing by the rules

4. self-discipline

5. respect for one’s opponents

While others might be considered vices:

1. violence

2. aggression

3. male-superiority

Other values that might be emphasized more than they are in societySome of these might be considered virtues:

2. teamwork

4. self-discipline

1. violence

2. aggression

3. male-superiority

2. teamwork

4. self-discipline

1. violence

2. aggression

3. male-superiority

2. teamwork

4. self-discipline

1. violence

2. aggression

3. male-superiority

2. teamwork

4. self-discipline

1. violence

2. aggression

3. male-superiority

Provided that there are some values (good or bad) in sport that differ from those ofcommon society, then the reductionist claim appear to be false.

Sports and moral education

Let’s suppose that sports does have an effect on the moral development of humanbeings. If sports do have an effect on the moral development, then there are twoproblems with having sports in school.

1. the problem of partisanship: education is supposed to be value-free. Schoolsshould not be teaching values to children because there is no one set of values thateveryone agrees upon.

2. the problem of indoctrination: even if we agree upon a set of values, we shouldn’tbe imposing these values upon people (brainwashing them to believe them).

We will only consider the problem of partisanship.

The problem of partisanship

1. The problem of partisanship says that schools should not impart a single groupsvalues on everyone else.

2. Similar to how the school should not dictate a single religion, schools shouldn’t betelling children “x is morally right” or “x is morally wrong”.

3. Public tax dollars fund the school and you shouldn’t be obligated to pay foreducating your children in a way that you are morally opposed to.

4. Sport teaches children values (in an indirect or informal way).

5. Therefore, sports should not be in schools.

Partisanship: objections

The act of education, sport, and variousother activities presuppose certain values.You have to accept them to do theactivity itself (and obtain its goods).

Example

1. You can’t learn if you don’t acceptcertain values: respect for others,dedication, basic civility, rule-following

2. You can’t do sport if you don’t acceptcertain values as well.

Values

Required for certain activity

Not required for the activity

Figure: Some values required to obtain thegoods of a certain activity, others are not.

Example

Values

Example

Values

Partisanship: objections, inner morality

We can thus say that sports have an inner morality.

Definition (Inner morality of sport)

The inner morality of sport are all of those values that must be accepted in order toparticipate in sport and obtain the goods of that sport

Partisanship: objections, inner morality

We can thus say that sports have an inner morality.

Definition (Inner morality of sport)

The inner morality of sport are all of those values that must be accepted in order toparticipate in sport and obtain the goods of that sport

Does this mean that sport in schools isunproblematic?

No, coaches and schoolscan still impose their values that are not apart of the inner morality of the sport (nota part of the values required to play asport).

Question

What are some values that certain schools,coaches, administrators might try toinstitute through sport but are not part ofthe sport’s inner morality?

Figure: Ducks leaping in Talleyrand Park inBellefonte, PA

Does this mean that sport in schools isunproblematic? No, coaches and schoolscan still impose their values that are not apart of the inner morality of the sport (nota part of the values required to play asport).

Question

Does this mean that sport in schools isunproblematic? No, coaches and schoolscan still impose their values that are not apart of the inner morality of the sport (nota part of the values required to play asport).

Question

Morality and coaching

The moral responsibilities of sport-participants

If sport is value-laden, we might question whether the individuals who participate insport have special moral responsibilities

1. athletes might have to behave a certain way

2. Coaches might be expected to emphasize certain values over others

3. referees might have an obligation to not do anything that influences their judgment

4. league owners might be expected not to show favoritism

5. spectators might be expected to take on certain tasks (e.g. not heckling)

Duties of coaches

Coaches of youth and professional sport might be faced with some of the most complexmoral decisions. To understand these, it is important to get a sense of their numerousduties and expectations:

1. provide technical (mechanical) expertise

2. to be a team leader

3. to set practice schedules and to decide who will play

4. to mitigate conflicts between players

5. to recruit

6. to positively promote their programs (e.g. in the media)

7. to win

8. to ensure students are in good academic standing (for non-professionals)

Duties of coaches

Coaches of youth and professional sport might be faced with some of the most complexmoral decisions. To understand these, it is important to get a sense of their numerousduties and expectations:

1. provide technical (mechanical) expertise

2. to be a team leader

3. to set practice schedules and to decide who will play

4. to mitigate conflicts between players

5. to recruit

6. to positively promote their programs (e.g. in the media)

7. to win

8. to ensure students are in good academic standing (for non-professionals)

Coaches as educators

� Simon et al. (p.229-231) contend thatcoaches should primarily be regarded aseducators.

� They should not be evaluated in termsof the athletic success of their athletes(how many wins they get)

� A losing coach might be an excellentcoach

Figure: Former Indiana Basketball coach BobbyKnight (Photo by Truett Holmes, GNU license)

What does it mean to expect coaches to be educators?

� supposed to facilitate athletes to “develop themselves”’ so they can rule overthemselves (become autonomous)

� supposed to help students find a way to acquire the good life

� Supposed to promote enjoyment, socialization, and health in sport

� In addition, supposed to help athletes see competition as a mutualistic endeavorto acquire the goods of sport when it is conceived in this way (e.g. respect for one’sopponent, self-knowledge through test, etc.)

Coaches as educators: competition is a tool

Competition, winning, and sport is simply a means to acquire certain capacities. It isused to help individuals grow.

Coaches as educators?

Question

What do you think of the thesis that youthcoaches should primarily be focused on thedevelopment of the individual (theirautonomy, their self-knowledge, their moralcharacter) athlete and not in terms ofwinning?

Figure: Coaches should aim to develop athletes

Coaches as educators: participation

If we assume that the primary role of a coach is to educate individuals, how does thisinfluence how we think about certain ethical issues that coaches face?

Example

Coaches are sometimes faced with the question of whether to play the best players orplay everyone. That is, the choice between winning and participation.

If we assume that the primary role of a coach is to educate individuals, how does thisinfluence how we think about certain ethical issues that coaches face?

Example

Coaches are sometimes faced with the question of whether to play the best players orplay everyone. That is, the choice between winning and participation.

Simon et al. (p.231) claim that youth coaches should emphasize participation overwinning. They contend that it is only by gaining meaningful experiences throughparticipation in sport that athletes can learn what coaches are supposed to learn.

Their argument is essentially:

1. Imagine if you didn’t know what position you were in life (e.g. athlete of x qualityor athlete of y quality)

2. Now imagine you are going to be placed at random into one of the positions

3. What ethical/political rules would you want a coach to be focused upon or knowbefore you found out your position?

Simon et al. (p.231) claim that youth coaches should emphasize participation overwinning. They contend that it is only by gaining meaningful experiences throughparticipation in sport that athletes can learn what coaches are supposed to learn.Their argument is essentially:

1. Imagine if you didn’t know what position you were in life (e.g. athlete of x qualityor athlete of y quality)

2. Now imagine you are going to be placed at random into one of the positions

3. What ethical/political rules would you want a coach to be focused upon or knowbefore you found out your position?

They (pp.231-232) that if we didn’t know our station in life, we would desire:

1. that coaches be focused on our development

2. that coaches be knowledgeable about the game

3. that they have the requisite teaching skills to teach us about the game

4. that they respect us as persons rather than use us as a means to their own success(grunts whose bodies can be sacrificed for a win)

They (pp.231-232) that if we didn’t know our station in life, we would desire:

1. that coaches be focused on our development

2. that coaches be knowledgeable about the game

3. that they have the requisite teaching skills to teach us about the game

4. that they respect us as persons rather than use us as a means to their own success(grunts whose bodies can be sacrificed for a win)

Question

Should coaches be conceivedprimarily as educators ratherthan as leaders whose primarygoal is to win? Try to comeup with one reason for yourposition.

Athletes as role models

Question

Should they be held to higher moral standard than the rest of us?

1. Society and media do hold athletes to a higher moral standard.

2. The personal lives are scrutinized and judged with more intensity than the lives ofregular individuals.

3. Some athletes feel it necessary to apologize to the public for their actions

4. They are expected to be role models for young people

Thus, additional moral responsibility is (rightly or wrongly) placed on athletes.

Question

Should they be held to higher moral standard than the rest of us?

1. Society and media do hold athletes to a higher moral standard.

2. The personal lives are scrutinized and judged with more intensity than the lives ofregular individuals.

3. Some athletes feel it necessary to apologize to the public for their actions

4. They are expected to be role models for young people

Thus, additional moral responsibility is (rightly or wrongly) placed on athletes.

Athletes as role models: Expectations

But there are two questions we might ask about this issue:

Question

1. Should athletes be held to a higher moral standard than the rest of the population?

2. Do athletes have special moral reasons to behave better than the rest of thepopulation?

1. The first question is more interesting. It implies that we expect more from athletesand if they violate certain ethical rules, then their behavior is morally worse than ifwe do.

2. The second answer is, I think, sort of trivial. Yes, they will have special reasons tobehave better given their capacity to impact others.

Question

Athletes as role models: An Example

In late 2009 after audio tape wasreleased, Tiger Woods admitted tohaving an extramarital affair. Afteradmitting to the affair, numerouswomen came forward claiming to havehad an affair with Woods. Followingthe admission of his infidelity, a numberof Woods’ sponsorships terminatedtheir deals with him (e..g Gatorade,AT&T) and Woods announced atemporarily break from golf. Figure: Tiger Woods meets President Barack

Obama in the Oval Office (April 2009)

Athletes as role models: Argument 1

P1 Athletes are regarded as role models.P2 Their status as role models means that their behavior can more

greatly impact people (especially young people) negatively andpositively.

P3 Anyone whose behavior can more greatly influence othersshould be held to a higher moral standard.

C Therefore, athletes have a special moral reason to behave bet-ter than we do and they should be held to a higher moralstandard.

P1 Athletes benefit from their status asrole models (financially and in otherways).

P2 This benefit comes with the expecta-tion that they will behave a certain way(that is, more virtuously than the restof us).

C Therefore, athletes have a specialmoral reason to behave better than wedo and they should be held to a highermoral standard.

Contractual Agreement

Athletes enter into a kind ofimplicit contractual agreementwith the public. They agree to bevirtuous and society agrees to paythem back by purchasing theirproducts and contributing to theirsuccess.

P1 Athletes benefit from their status asrole models (financially and in otherways).

P2 This benefit comes with the expecta-tion that they will behave a certain way(that is, more virtuously than the restof us).

C Therefore, athletes have a specialmoral reason to behave better than wedo and they should be held to a highermoral standard.

Contractual Agreement

Athletes enter into a kind ofimplicit contractual agreementwith the public. They agree to bevirtuous and society agrees to paythem back by purchasing theirproducts and contributing to theirsuccess.

Athletes as role models: Objections

The idea that athletes should be role models faces a number of objections:

Objection 1: Unreasonable expectation

Elite athletes are not any more virtuous than the rest of us. In fact, they might beconsidered less capable of being morally virtuous since most of their time is spentfocusing on a single thing: athletics. Thus, rather than having additional moral reasonsas to why they should behave better than the rest of us, there are strong reasons whywe should expect them to behave morally worse than the rest of us.

Objection 2: Unreasonable expectation

Some athletes claim that athletes shouldnot be role models. Charles Barkley’sfamous “I am not a role model”commercial (NIKE). Barkley contends thatparents should be role models, notbasketball players. He argues that “justbecause he can dunk a basketball, doesn’tmean he should raise your kids.”

Objection 3: Limited scope

Doesn’t clearly apply to all elite athletes (perhaps only the top elite athletes).

1. Do D1 athletes have a special moral burden? They don’t appear to benefitsignificantly from their athletic status given that they are not paid and cannotacquire endorsements.

2. What if an athlete does not profit from being considered a role model, do they stillhave an obligation to be a role model?

Objection 4: Movie stars

We don’t hold movie stars, musicians, artists, and a variety of other individuals whobenefit from their status as role models to this higher standard. In fact, in some cases,we actually expect certain popular figures to be morally bankrupt. It is thus arbitrarythat we hold athletes to this higher standard.

Question

Do athletes have a special moral responsibility that does not apply to non-athletes?

philosophy of sport [1em] [width=.5]squirrel · 2019. 9. 29. · sports and moral education let’s...

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