Proceedings of the XXIII World Congress of Philosophy

The Polish football fans community has been recently in the scope of several academic studies, concerning – mostly – numerous deviations presented by its members. What has been left underestimated is the formal and practical capacity the football fans community to influence both the public opinion, as well as local and national governments. Albeit controversial, the “fanatic” football fans characteristics are inherently inscribed in the personal identities of the group’s members; they exceed simple “friend-foe” distinctions, rather consisting of a complex set of social and political views, rooted in communitarian and neo-conservative philosophies. In my lecture, I wish to discuss how the football fans community reacts to both theoretical projects of the post-modern society and its practical implementations. By stressing out the declared criticism of the changes taking place in modern society (especially those concerning morality, education and the so-called “weakening of social ties”), I wish to evoke the neglected dimension of the football fans society – that of a conservative educator and political actor.

In this paper, I aim to explore a basis of interconnection of athletes in interpersonal athletics. The respect for their opponents needs a certain mutual understanding. The founder of Judo, Jigoro Kano (1860-1938), advocates the ideal of ‘mutual prosperity for self and others’. In order to assume that athletes confronting each other realize this ideal, we have to find out the possibility to connect athletes in some way. And we can name Kitaro Nishida(1870-1945) as one of the pioneers of Japanese philosophy, who developed an unique philosophical investigation based on Eastern philosophy. I will interpret the interconnection of athletes from the ‘pure experience’ and ‘I-Thou’ relationship which he referred. Empathy, which is an example of interconnection, means to assume an event occurred on the other (object) as that on the self (subject). This framework of this understanding, however, seems to have some methodological limits, e.g. solipsism or dualism. Nishida attempts to overcome this theoretical difficulty by introducing ‘pure experience’ into the issue of identifying subject with object. For example, Judoka is required to react as swiftly as possible to the opponent’s attack. In that moment he/she could perceive the opponent’s state and react to the attack at the corporeal level regardless of his/her consciousness.

An attempt is made to clarify the meaning of bodily exercises and the role of the passions on bodily movements from the viewpoint of René Descartes (1596-1650), as an educator. In the field of Cartesian philosophy, some attempts are being made to identify Descartes as an educator, however, there is little on bodily movements and exercises. However, his remarks on them seem to offer some beneficial suggestions to a philosophy of sport. So it is useful to examine his understandings of exercises, bodily movements and the passions in the context of education and health. It’s possible to identify Descartes as an educator. From his The Passions of the Soul, he indicates us the goal of education, to achieve Generosity. And we may reach to it through a good “upbringing”. Besides, Descartes points out that it is good for our health to do exercises, which makes us aware of our “perfection of the body” and could lead us to the pleasure of the soul which constitutes happiness. In addition, the passions are important incentives to our bodily movements. In conclusion, he was already conscious of the role of the passions on bodily movements and the meanings of exercises.

The reflections presented in the paper are not normative (in general, it can be said, that they do not create moral values and demands). The presented reflections particularly stress the sense, essence, meaning, and identity of sport in the context of moral demands. A disquisition pointing out that sports and sport-related doping can be situated beyond the moral good and evil must be considered precisely as metaethical, and leads in a consciously controversial way to fully defining the identity of sport in general, as well as the identity of particular sports disciplines. These reflections also refer to the issue concerning the identity of sports philosophy, i.e. general deliberations and specific issues concerning, for example, the factual and cognitive status of normative ethics in sport.

Ethics in sport demand not only that we respect ourselves and others, but also that we respect sport itself. But the question of respecting sport seems to create a kind of moral dilemma between the obligation to “play one’s best” by maximizing performance, and the obligation to follow rules and traditions that ban the use of ergogenic aids. It is often argued that bans on performance-enhancing substances, equipment, and training techniques are paternalistic and violate athletes’ liberty to rationally accept risks in their pursuit of excellence. Against advocates for the legalization of ergogenic aids, however, I argue in this paper that such bans must be respected because they are an essential part of the nature of sport. Whether one understands sports metaphysically to be Suits’ “voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles” or a MacIntyrean social practice, inefficiency of means is an essential component sport that demands respect from all participants. The performance principle in sport is ontologically posterior to the prescription of inefficiencies upon which sport depends, so ethical respect for sport demands that we limit the efficiencies provided by ergogenic aids

Sport exerts such broad and deep influence on human beings that it is comparable with religion and science. Sport is not limited to physical acts in a physiological sense. It is rather related to the human spirit. Compared with this breadth and depth of sport, very little has been said on the thought connected with sport. It is as if popularization and intensification (escalation of breadth and depth) have been left to run rampant. In this paper, we would link sport with the human spirit and discuss it from the perspective of its role in the modern world. Aiming at sustainable societies in terms of energy and the environment through our own individual efforts is one of the major challenges we face today. At the same time, we would like to highlight the challenge we face of realizing societies that allow the sustainability and continued existence of achieved joy and cooperation with others. In relation to this challenge, we believe that the thought on sport will help in shaping our futures. Sport has functioned in a way that inspires independent actions in humans, and it will no doubt continue to do so. When doing so, we need suggestions for the types of thought that will give meaning to everyone’s sporting acts, from top-level athletes to ordinary people of all ages, and that will counter the type of external threats about which Karl Jaspers and Johan Huizinga were apprehensive. We believe that the possibility for a philosophy of sport lies in completely overcoming the etymological sense of ‘recreation.’

Статья посвящена философско-антропологическим основаниям спорта. В статье рассматривается влияние физической культуры на процесс развития личности. Анализируется современные концепции, определяющие философское понимание физической культуры.