Sports Ethics

The Body-machine from Michael Phelps to Oscar Pistorius discusses in retrospection the utilitarian view about the body that should be productive. From a utilitarian perspective, the body is not personal belonging but is separated from the human and transformed into a working machine. This view about the body raises many ethical problems especially for people that are not so productive such as handicapped people. Evidence for this can be found in professional sport. This process is essential for athletes. In the early 20 th century the athlete's body-machine was produced for the needs of professional sport. Those new athletic body-machines have become very important because they produced symbolic capital for their countries. The products, achievements, and especially the Olympic medals of athletes fulfill the nationalist agenda which, in Europe, was especially influential in that period. Athletes' achievements from international sport competitions produce symbolic capital in a similar way to archeological artifacts or the works of " national " writers. The gold medal and the world record can stimulate national dignity and consolidate people from a certain community. Top athletes are very famous and can become decision makers. However, very often this symbolic capital serves the purposes of state propaganda. Such examples are provided in this paper. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the inhumane practice of using athletes as gold producing machines rather than letting them develop fully their human potential.

In the Christian religious tradition, theological virtues of faith, hope and love have a central role. Along with the cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance they present the whole of the good human life. While cardinal virtues can be cultivated by human will, faith, hope and love are given by God and therefore open 'natural' human life on Earth toward transcendent spiritual realities. Human beings as bio-psycho-social and spiritual beings incorporate theological virtues in all the activities of their life. In sport, faith, hope and love have an important, though often neglected, role. On a practical level faith can be recognized in any relation between athlete and coach. To trust one's coach, without any guarantee that the outcome of prescribed workouts will lead to the desired results, needs strong faith, trust and confidence. Moreover, faith is the virtue that makes sport so attractive also for spectators even to the point of being a 'secular' religion for the masses. Hope is the virtue of 'not yet' or of something 'being on its way'. For most athletes, daily workouts are not a goal, but just the means to that end. Any reason for doing sports needs a hope behind it in order to move or will oneself to action. Along with hope, understood as a golden mean, we find despair on the one hand and 'false hope' on the other. Both are corruptions of hope seen daily in the world of sport. To manage hope in sport practices correctly offers a path to success in sport at all levels. Love is at the apex of the theological virtues. There are many formulations of love both in ancient Greek and Roman times: eros, agape, caritas, amor. Each has its special characteristic meaning also in sport. In sport we can see laughter and tears because any love is connected with highest human joy and deepest depression. Yet, in summation, it is argued that love in sport must be understood as the binding force and source of cooperation and fulfilled life for any athlete qua human being.

Purpose: This paper examined ethic and institutionalization of code of professional practice in the Kano State School sports system. These codes of ethics include commitment to athletes, player, public, profession, employment practice and services that embodied personal integrity, dignity and mutual respect. Methods: Three [3] research questions were formulated, answered and tested at 0.05 level of Significance. The Sample comprised of 5 School Sports professionals management practitioners selected from secondary schools of Kano, from the total population of 105 through stratified Sampling technique. The instrument used in the research was the Self-Assessment Questionnaire [SAQ] developed by the researcher, data collected were analysed using rank ordered correlation. Results: The findings revealed the need for school sport management professionals to understand the different functions of codes and distinguished between the three types of codes namely, code of ethics, conduct, practi...

This chapter outlines the Love Fighting Hate Violence (LFHV) project: an anti-violence initiative aimed at inspiring reflection and generating pedagogical interventions within martial arts and combat sports.  The goal of LFHV is to harness the potential of these activities for educating people about violence, specifically with respect to understanding the principles of consent and violation.  The chapter provides a theoretical overview of the project’s core philosophy by way of an interactionist reading of fights as social encounters.  It then turns to discussing some of the practical materials already developed for use within LFHV.  These draw on the aforementioned theory, as well as a values-based teaching methodology, to frame the potential contribution that this project can make to anti-violence education.

Tra i sintomi più preoccupanti che ci fanno temere per lo stato di salute dello sport c’è il diffondersi del doping amatoriale. Fenomeno che cresce di pari passo con quella che è stata definita «la cultura della pillola», ovvero l’idea che ogni forma di fragilità o di vulnerabilità , possa essere superata grazie ai progressi della tecnica farmaceutica. Da questo punto di vista il diffondersi del doping tra gli amatori deve essere colto come il sintomo di un malessere più profondo, che riguarda l’incapacità dell’uomo di far pace con i propri limiti, nella persuasione, errata, che una vita realmente felice possa darsi solo grazie al superamento di ogni limite e alla rimozione di ogni forma di fragilità.
Una volta che la «vita riuscita» è divenuta sinonimo di «vita perfetta» – efficiente e competitiva – tutti gli elementi difettivi della condizione umana appaiono esclusivamente come ostacoli lungo la via della piena realizzazione di sé. Non ci si deve sforzare di scorgere un senso o un valore nelle nostre fragilità; esse sono solo mali che, come tali, possono o essere subiti o essere rimossi.

Adapting Bernard Suits' account of game-play, we can show that, in games, competition can be converted into cooperation. Suits says that to play a game is to voluntarily take up unnecessary obstacles for the sake of overcoming them. Thus, in games, we can become each others' desired obstacles. Others in the philosophy of sport have argued for such cooperation, but typically but the weight of conversion on player consent or player intention. I argue for a more distributed model of conversion, in which player consent, proper match-ups of player temperament and skill, features of game-design, and psychological fit of players with game design all contribute to the conversion process. As a result, conversion isn't guaranteed, even when all players have consented. Finally, I use the conversion model to argue against the popular view in philosophy of sports that the purpose of sport is the display or development of excellence; instead, the social function of converting competition into cooperation is just as plausible an account of the purpose of sport.

In a year in which Chris Hoy cemented his place as an Olympic icon, Bradley Wiggins made history on the roads of France and Andy Murray became a Grand Slam champion, the sports story which perhaps had greatest impact beyond the back pages was Lance Armstrong’s unseemly fall from seven-time Tour de France champion to serial drugs cheat....

El reciente partido amistoso disputado en Johannesburgo por la selección nacional española contra Sudáfrica como homenaje por el Campeonato del Mundo obtenido en 2010 ha generado una interesante controversia acerca del fair play en el deporte y más en concreto en el fútbol, en el que incluso la redacción de esta revista se ha pronunciado. En cualquier caso, este episodio es una ocasión propicia no solo para discutir estas anómalas circunstancias sino también para plantearse el sentido que tiene una noción central al deporte  y si fue correctamente aplicada por el seleccionador español y el árbitro del partido: la expresión fair play. Y es que a ella recurrió aludió Vicente del Bosque para justificar su petición al árbitro de permitir el séptimo cambio.
Para ello plantearé tres sentidos de fair play y analizaré a partir de ellos la decisión del árbitro (y la iniciativa de Del Bosque) para concluir que fue una remisión errónea en el caso concreto.

Lo sport è una scuola di vita che ha bisogno di volontà e con- sapevolezza, impegno e determinazione; può rappresentare una preziosa agenzia educativa al servizio del bene comune, ma non è affatto scontato che lo sia davvero. Troppo spesso la pratica sportiva è associata all’idolatria della vittoria e del successo: come non perdere il senso umano del gioco? Quali virtù coltivare per crescere adulti nello sport e nella vita?

Il fenomeno del «professionismo di fatto» rientra a pieno titolo nell’ambito del lavoro sportivo e può essere meglio definito dall’ossimoro «dilettantismo retribuito», che è un fatto sociale ed economico curiosamente sottratto alla normativa speciale dello sport professionistico.
La mancanza di una disciplina speciale del dilettantismo retribuito porta a ritenere che, in ogni controversia di lavoro coinvolgente società sportive e atleti dilettanti, spesso ben retribuiti (per esempio, nella serie A di pallavolo o nella serie A femminile di calcio o pallacanestro), il professionismo di fatto possa essere accertato giudizialmente.
Tuttavia, restano aperte almeno tre questioni riguardanti la libertà contrattuale dell’atleta dilettante, che talora è anche un professionista di fatto, in evidente violazione del principio generale fissato dall’art. 1 della L. 23 marzo 1981, n. 91, secondo cui «l’esercizio dell’attività sportiva, sia essa svolta in forma individuale o collettiva, sia in forma professionistica o dilettantistica, è libero»: giurisdizione, discriminazione, vincolo sportivo.

in GiustiziaSportiva.it - Rivista Internet di diritto dello sport [http://www.giustiziasportiva.it], 2, 2018, pp. 4-14

Purpose: This paper examined ethic and institutionalization of code of professional practice in the Kano State School sports system. These codes of ethics include commitment to athletes, player, public, profession, employment practice and services that embodied personal integrity, dignity and mutual respect. Methods: Three [3] research questions were formulated, answered and tested at 0.05 level of Significance. The Sample comprised of 35 School Sports professionals’ management practitioners selected from secondary schools of Kano, from the total population of 105 through stratified Sampling technique. The instrument used in the research was the Self-Assessment Questionnaire [SAQ] developed by the researcher, data collected were analysed using rank ordered correlation. Results: The findings revealed the need for school sport management professionals’ to understand the different functions of codes and distinguished between the three types of codes namely, code of ethics, conduct, pra...

The learner's guide reflects the tendencies of modernization of educational space and the adoption of the Third Generation Federal State Education Standard of the Higher Professional Education.
The system concept of the youth healthy life style presupposes the necessity of its adequate value and meaning orientation, the substantial analysis of such aspects, as the regime of life-sustaining activity, food hygiene, pernicious habits prevention, and motion activity. Considerable attention has been given to health-improving physical training. Techniques, exercises, forms of trainings are under consideration. Various kinds of physical training, innovative technologies of health-improvement, training analysis with special medical group are presented. To gain a better perception of the material it is illustrated by tables and drawings. Theoretical aspects are combined with practical recommendations, fragments of scientific researches. The learner's guide will be useful for teachers of physical training, instructors, students, and also for everybody who wants to be healthy.
Учебное пособие отражает тенденции модернизации образовательного пространства, перехода к ФГОС ВПО третьего поколения. Системный взгляд на здоровый образ жизни молодежи предполагает необходимость ее адекватной ценностно-смысловой ориентации, содержательного анализа таких аспектов, как режим жизнедеятельности, гигиена питания, профилактика вредных привычек, двигательная активность. Большое внимание уделяется оздоровительной физической культуре. Рассматриваются методики, упражнения, формы организации занятий. Представлены разнообразные виды физической культуры, инновационные технологии оздоровления, особенности работы со специальной медицинской группой. Для лучшего восприятия материал иллюстрирован таблицами и рисунками. Теоретические аспекты сочетаются с практическими рекомендациями, фрагментами научных исследований. Учебное пособие будет полезно преподавателям физической культуры, инструкторам, студентам, а также всем, кто хочет быть здоровым.

Mixed martial arts (MMA) is frequently criticized as barbaric and inhumane. This stands in stark contrast with the booming popularity of the sport. What little has been written depicts MMA as something inherently wrong (Dixon 2015) or at best merely permissible (Weimer 2017; Kershnar and Kelly 2019). Contrary to these foregoing analyses, this chapter argues that MMA is not only permissible, but a morally praiseworthy and virtuous endeavour in virtue of developing moral character and recognizing the intimate connection between body and mind.

Abstract

Doping in elite-sport is a topical issue that polarizes public opinion. This dissertation outlines crucial, fundamental questions that go unasked in general discourse about doping in elite-sport and that through being answered will allow the debate to be had at more meaningful level. 

This interdisciplinary dissertation draws widely on: scientific journal entries, textbooks, multimedia and official documents in subjects of biochemistry, biology, psychology and ethics.

A comprehensive, balanced, inter-disciplinary approach to the research that was used to form this dissertation allows for a multifactorial coverage of the issues addressed and means that, at the very least, the conclusions made have some equity.

This​ dissertation examines include: what doping is and who decides, the (not so) valiant institutional structures through which doping detection is currently undertaken, and what the current prevalence of doping is likely to be.  It aims to answer two questions: (i) is the playing field levelled by the current paradigm of doping prohibition? and (ii) in this human world, there are many examples of ideals that only fitfully work in reality, but is this an argument for not making the effort to put ideals into practice?

Through this research it can be concluded that doping is far more pervasive that WADA's statistics would suggest, doping detection methods are unfit for purpose, it is questionable whether the true motives for those who organise testing are more political than egalitarian and there are great genetic dissimilarities between elite-athletes (who are, as a group, already genetically superior to the rest of the population in terms of athletic potential).

All of these conclusions highlight that elite-sport has never and probably will never be an even playing field.  Looking forward, there are far-reaching moral and political implications for organised testing.

Le sfide che vanno al di là dell’umanamente possibile sono diventate il pane quotidiano degli sportivi che cercano in tutti i modi di superare i limiti imposti dalla natura e dalla scienza. Ma quali sono questi limiti? Siamo in grado di riconoscerli? E se li riconosciamo, siamo in grado di capire quando è giusto fermarsi?

lla pratica sportiva: fatica, impegno, coraggio, agonismo, amicizia, lealtà, sfida personale; ma anche imbroglio, doping, egoismo, narcisismo. Come un equilibrista, sempre esposto al rischio della caduta, l’atleta deve infatti dimostrarsi capace di contemperare i molti valori che rendono gustosa la pratica sportiva, senza lasciarsi tentare da ricette troppo semplici.

Este artículo defiende que las narraciones míticas griegas deben tener un papel
importante en la enseñanza de la filosofía del olimpismo. Se mostrará, primero, que el
olimpismo, como ideología, surgió de los mitos y como mito en sí mismo. Para ello,
ofreceremos un análisis del concepto de mito centrándonos en su dimensión existencial.
Segundo, mostraremos que el deporte actual aún se asienta en las narraciones míticas
griegas ya que está fundado en ciertos valores que ya se encontraban en los mitos antiguos.
Con ello, se mostrará la relevancia que tienen las narraciones míticas para la enseñanza de
la filosofía del olimpismo.

Lo sport rappresenta un potente veicolo formativo, capace di incidere sugli stili di vita e sulle modalità di pensiero delle persone. Affinché la lezione dello sport sia realmente positiva, è però necessario che tale ruolo educativo sia riconosciuto e incoraggiato. Se ciò non avviene, la pratica sportiva continua a veicolare valori, ma corre il serio rischio di favorire il diffondersi di quelli negativi. Vincere diventa così l’unica cosa che conta e questo apre la strada a tutta una serie di pratiche e comportamenti palesemente antisportivi, doping in primis. Il volume, dedicato al rapporto tra sport, valori e inclusione sociale, vuole contribuire alla promozione di una rinnovata cultura sportiva. A tal fine si propone di mettere al servizio di associazioni, scuole e istituzioni sportive le competenze necessarie a fare della pratica sportiva una reale occasione di crescita umana e civile.

Este libro pretende ser una pequeña introducción a los principales autores y corrientes que podemos encontrar dentro del ámbito de la ética del deporte. En un momento del texto afirmo que “es la introducción que nunca tuve en castellano” cuando yo me inicié en este terreno.He de aclarar que no se trata de un texto centrado en el contenido concreto de la ética del deporte –dopaje, comercialización, mejoramiento genético, cuestiones de sexo e identidad– sino en las diversas metodologías que han tratado de desarrollar una visión ética de dicho fenómeno. Para contrarrestar la predominancia de lo filosófico-metodológico sobre lo deportivo he tratado de elaborar dos análisis filosóficos de casos concretos, titulados "El espíritu del deporte: Rafael Nadal, Zinedine Zidane y Michael Jordan" y "Guardiola y Mourinho:la excelencia y la victoria". El papel del intelectual en nuestro tiempo no es el del arquitecto o el capitán de barco que indica al resto cómo se deben hacer las cosas o hacia dónde hemos de ir, sino que debe tratarse de una voz más que trata de enriquecer y mejorar los debates públicos sobre las cuestiones que nos preocupan. Este libro es un intento de generar un debate así

A common refrain in and outside academia is that prominent sports figures ought to engage more in the public discourse about political issues. This idea parallels the idea that athletes ought to be role models in general. This paper first examines and critiques the " athlete as role model " argument and then applies this critique to the " athlete as political activist " argument. Appealing to the empirical political psychological literature, the paper sketches an argument that athlete activism might actually do more harm than good.

Love Fighting Hate Violence is a campaign aiming to raise awareness of the important moral difference between sport-based combat, and violence. It seeks to encourage practitioners and fans of martial arts and combat sports to reflect on this distinction, and to encourage various forms of anti-violence action within and through their different disciplines. This manifesto aims to clarify some of the central ideas and objectives of LFHV. It outlines the reasoning behind the campaign, points to the general spirit of what we hope it can achieve, and also hints at some ways it could be put into practice.

NB - the manifesto is also available in Polish and Spanish via our website, www.lfhv.org/manifesto - other translations to follow.

In our information societies, we increasingly delegate tasks and decisions to automated systems, devices and agents that mediate human relationships, by taking decisions and acting on the basis of algorithms. Their increased intelligence, autonomous behavior and connectivity are changing crucially the life conditions of human beings as well as altering traditional concepts and ways of understanding reality. Algorithms are directed to solve problems that are not always detectable in their own relevance and timeliness. They are also meant to solve those problems through procedures that are not always visible and assessable in their own. In addition, technologies based on algorithmic procedures more and more infer personal information from aggregated data, thus profiling human beings and anticipating their expectations, views and behaviors. This may have normative, if not discriminatory, consequences. While algorithmic procedures and applications are meant to serve human needs, they risk to create an environment in which human beings tend to develop adaptive strategies by conforming their behaviour to the expected output of the procedures, with serious distortive effects. Against this backdrop, little room is often left for a process of rational argumentation able to challenge the results of algorithmic procedures by putting into question some of their hidden assumptions or by taking into account some neglected aspects of the problems under consideration. At the same time, it is widely recognized that scientific and social advances crucially depend on such an open and free critical discussion.