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Philosophy of Sport

Chapter 21

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Topics covered in this chapter:

What is philosophy of sport?

The nature of sport

Ethics and sport

Aesthetics and sport

Sport and society

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What is Philosophy of Sport?

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Subdisciplines of philosophy

Philosophy

Metaphysics

Epistemology

Aesthetics

Ethics

Logic

The study of beauty

The study of how we ought to live

The study of argument analysis

The study of theory

of knowledge

The study of what is

real

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Philosophy today

Application of the same questions that arise from the “big five” to a broad array of topics– Conflict resolution– Feminism– Race relations– Sport

Metadiscipline – examines and evaluates disciplines themselves

The primary tool is logic

Requirements for philosophical analysis: intellectual integrity, open-mindedness, critical attitude

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Philosophy of sport

Asks questions such as:– What precisely is sport?– Is violence an inescapable part of competitive

sport? Etc.

For many, answers to these questions may seem unnecessary

But what is sport?

Chess Ultimate fighting Dog fighting

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The Nature of Sport

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Early competitive sport – Greek roots

Celebratory funeral games in honor of fallen warriors (Homer, Iliad)– Example: chariot race

Athlein athlete– “to contend”, “to suffer”

Agones agony– “contests,” “places of combat”

Preparation for war and the province of males only

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Aretism The ideal of competitive sports is striving for human

excellence (M. Andrew Holowchak)

Ancient Greek component– Arete = “excellence,” “virtue”– Part of culture to strive for

excellence in sport

Non-Greek component– Focus on the striving for and not the attainment of victory

(how victory is won versus victory)– Play hard but play fair

Ethical component– Core values of competitive sport are not internal to sport but

rather are those of human beings in the world at large

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The “goods” of sport

Children– Do not have fully developed rational faculty – Mostly motivated by external goods (e.g., approval,

recognition)

Adults– Have fully developed rational faculty– Some have the capacity to appreciate internal benefits– Others are motivated by external goods like recognition– Professional athletes can be motivated by external goods

such as money and fame

External goods: money,

approval, fame

Internal goods: love, cooperation,

courage

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Sport and values

The core values of modern sport:– Derived from society – Do not vary from society to society– Universally embraced by all capable of rationality

Internalism

Values of competitive sportare unique

and not reducible

to those of society

Externalism

Values of competitive sportare not unique and are merely

a subset of society’s values

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