Sport, Ethics, and Neurophilosophy
Sport, Ethics, and Neurophilosophy

Author: Jeffrey P. Fry

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-05-21

Total Pages: 223

ISBN-13: 0429685742

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The growth of neuroscience and the spread of general interest in the brain have prompted concern for ethical issues posed by neuroscientists. Despite the growing interest in the brain, neuroscience, and the profound issues that neuroscience raises, up to this point, relatively little attention has been given to, broadly speaking, neurophilosophical reflection on the brain in the context of sport. This book seeks to address this gap. Sport abounds with issues ripe for neurophilosophical treatment. Human movement, intentionality, cognition, cooperation, and vulnerability to injury directly and indirectly implicate the brain, and feature prominently in sport. This innovative volume comprises chapters by a team of international scholars who have written on a wide variety of topics at the intersection of sport, ethics, and neurophilosophy. Not only are the issues presented here of pressing philosophical and practical concerns, they also represent a new mode of fluid interaction between science and philosophy for the future of sports scholarship. This book was originally published as a special issue of the journal Sport, Ethics and Philosophy.

The Concussion Crisis in Sport
The Concussion Crisis in Sport

Author: Dominic Malcolm

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-07-23

Total Pages: 196

ISBN-13: 1000103889

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Concussion has become one of the most significant issues in contemporary sport. The life-changing impact of head injury and the possible threat that chronic traumatic encephalopathy poses to children and young athletes in particular is calling into question the long-term future of some of our most well-established sports. But what are the real issues behind the headlines and the public outcry, and what can and should be done to save sport from itself? This concise, provocative introduction draws on perspectives from sociology, medicine, ethics, psychology, and public health to answer these questions and more. The book explores the context in which the current cultural crisis has emerged. It assesses the current state of biomedical knowledge; the ethics of regulating for brain injury; the contribution of the social sciences to understanding the behaviour of sports participants; and the impact of public health interventions and campaigns. Drawing on the latest research evidence, the book explores the social roots of sport’s concussion crisis and assesses potential future solutions that might resolve this crisis. This is essential reading for anybody with an interest in sport, from students and researchers to athletes, coaches, teachers, parents, policy-makers, and clinicians.

The Philosophy of Football
The Philosophy of Football

Author: Steffen Borge

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-06-07

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 042960212X

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Human beings are the only creatures known to engage in sport. We are sporting animals, and our favourite pastime of football is the biggest sport spectacle on earth. The Philosophy of Football presents the first sustained, in-depth philosophical investigation of the phenomenon of football. In explaining the complex nature of football, the book draws on literature in sociology, history, psychology and beyond, offering real-life examples of footballing actions alongside illuminating thought experiments. The book is organized around four main themes considering the character, nature, analysis and aesthetics of football. It discusses football as an extra-ordinary, unnecessary, rule-based, competitive, skill-based physical activity, articulated as a social (as opposed to natural) kind that is fictional in character, and where fairness or fair play – contrary to much sport ethical discussion – is not centre stage. Football, it is argued, is a constructive- destructive contact sport and, in comparison to other sports, is lower scoring and more affected by chance. The latter presents to its spectators a more unpredictable game and a darker, more complex and denser drama to enjoy. The Philosophy of Football deepens our understanding of the familiar features of the game, offering novel interpretations on what football is, how and why we play it, and what the game offers its followers that makes us so eagerly await match day. This is essential reading for anybody with an interest in the world’s most popular game or in the philosophical or social study of sport.

Sport and Spirituality
Sport and Spirituality

Author: R. Scott Kretchmar

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-05-21

Total Pages: 156

ISBN-13: 0429589387

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This comprehensive volume explores the interface between sport and religion, or more broadly, sport and spirituality. While most of the contributions come from Western and Christian traditions, the volume raises broader questions about the kinds of impact that spirituality can and should have on sport, and equally, that sport can and should have on spirituality. The authors put forth an anti-dualistic message, one that argues against any vision of sport and religion existing in separate domains. Mind interpenetrates body, faith and love interpenetrate competition, spirituality and the Divine can interpenetrate secular games. This positive book has powerful implications for reforming contemporary sport, particularly crass, extrinsically-driven, win-at-all-cost versions of competition. It is a book about the incarnation, the paradoxical existence of the spirit in the flesh, love in competition, the myth-making power and meaning of games to engage the world, transcendent hope found in kicking a ball around, and how sport as a liturgy can mediate divine presence. This book was originally published as a special issue of the journal Sport, Ethics and Philosophy.

The Philosophy of Mixed Martial Arts
The Philosophy of Mixed Martial Arts

Author: Jason Holt

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-09-09

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 1000450449

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Mixed martial arts (MMA)—unarmed fighting games permitting techniques derived from a variety of martial arts and combat sports— has exploded from the fringes of sport into a worldwide phenomenon, a sport as controversial as it is compelling. This is the first book to pay MMA the serious philosophical attention it deserves. With contributions from leading international scholars of the philosophy of sport and martial arts, the book explores topics such as whether MMA qualifies as a martial art, the differences between MMA and the traditional martial arts, the aesthetic dimensions of MMA, the limits of consent and choice in MMA and whether MMA can promote moral virtues. It also explores cutting-edge practical and ethical topics, including the role of gender in MMA, and the question of whether trans athletes should be allowed to compete in the women’s divisions. The contributors to this anthology take down, ground and pound, and submit many essential questions about this fascinating recent development in the culture of sport and spectacle. This is important reading for anybody with an interest in combat sports, martial arts, or the philosophy, sociology, culture or history of sport.

Gym Culture, Identity and Performance-Enhancing Drugs
Gym Culture, Identity and Performance-Enhancing Drugs

Author: Ask Vest Christiansen

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-05-27

Total Pages: 213

ISBN-13: 1000070131

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This book is about gym culture, the pursuit of fit, muscular bodies and the use of drugs as a means to get there. Building on the international research literature and in-depth interviews with men who have experience of image and performance enhancing drugs (IPEDs), the book explores the fascination with muscles, motivations for using drugs to enhance them, assessments of risks, and experience of side effects. The book examines what the altered body does to the men’s identity, self-image and relationships with peers and partners. Taking an evolutionary psychological approach, it also investigates the biological and psychological foundations of the fascination with the muscular body and discusses the notion of precarious manhood. Building on these analyses the book considers the political and regulatory initiatives in place to prevent the use of IPEDs and assesses those strategies’ potential to reach their aims. This is essential reading for anybody with an interest in the issue of drugs in sport, the ethics of sport, sociology of sport, sociology of the body, masculinity or public health.

Kinetic Beauty
Kinetic Beauty

Author: Jason Holt

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-11-01

Total Pages: 172

ISBN-13: 1000758877

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Sport aesthetics is an important but often marginalized field in the philosophy of sport. Kinetic Beauty offers a comprehensive, principled, pluralist introduction to the philosophical aesthetics of sport. The book tackles a wide variety of issues in the philosophical aesthetics of sport, proposing a five-level analysis that coordinates extant scholarship on the same conceptual map, reveals gaps in the literature, and motivates a fresh perspective on stubborn debates and novel topics in the field (for example, the aesthetic experience of athletes, aesthetic biases in sport, the paradox of sport fiction, and whether dance can be sport). This is an excellent resource for professors and students in the philosophy of sport, sport aesthetics, general aesthetics, and the philosophy of art. It is also a fascinating read for those working in kinesiology, sport studies, philosophy, art, and aesthetics.

Doping in Cycling
Doping in Cycling

Author: Bertrand Fincoeur

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-12-07

Total Pages: 428

ISBN-13: 1351103857

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Doping in Cycling: Interdisciplinary Perspectives provides an up-to-date overview of the knowledge about doping and anti-doping in the sport that has dominated doping headlines for at least two decades. It critically addresses overarching questions related to doping and anti-doping, and topical issues being raised in the agenda of policy-makers at the global level. The book features cross-disciplinary contributions from international leading scholars in sports sociology, history, philosophy, psychology and criminology, and even beyond human and social sciences. Split into three parts (the use and supply of doping products; threats on cycling and opportunities for anti-doping; and issues, controversies, and stakes), it covers topics such as changing patterns of drug use in professional cycling, the impact of scientific advances on doping in cycling, whether cycling teams can prevent doping, whistleblowing on doping in cycling, and how to improve the credibility of the sport. This is a vital resource for researchers, students, policy-makers, anti-doping organisations and sports federations, and an important read for anyone involved in elite cycling.

Endurance Sport and the American Philosophical Tradition
Endurance Sport and the American Philosophical Tradition

Author: Douglas Hochstetler

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2020-01-15

Total Pages: 211

ISBN-13: 1498547826

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Endurance Sport and the American Philosophical Tradition, edited by Douglas R. Hochstetler, analyzes the relationship between endurance sports—such as running, cycling, and swimming–and themes from the American philosophical tradition. The contributors enter into dialogue with writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, William James, Henry David Thoreau, and John Dewey, as well as more recent scholars such as John McDermott and bell hooks. Examining American philosophical themes informs issues in endurance sport, and the experiential nature of endurance sport helps address philosophical issues and explain philosophical themes in American philosophy. The chapters bear witness to the fact that philosophy is not limited to abstract notions such as justice, truth, happiness, and so forth, but intersects with and has a bearing on our human endeavors of work and play. Furthermore, the themes centrally related to the American philosophical tradition align closely with the challenges and experiences present and faced by runners, cyclists, swimmers, and endurance athletes in general.

Braintrust
Braintrust

Author: Patricia S. Churchland

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2018-05-22

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 0691180970

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A provocative new account of how morality evolved What is morality? Where does it come from? And why do most of us heed its call most of the time? In Braintrust, neurophilosophy pioneer Patricia Churchland argues that morality originates in the biology of the brain. She describes the "neurobiological platform of bonding" that, modified by evolutionary pressures and cultural values, has led to human styles of moral behavior. The result is a provocative genealogy of morals that asks us to reevaluate the priority given to religion, absolute rules, and pure reason in accounting for the basis of morality. Moral values, Churchland argues, are rooted in a behavior common to all mammals—the caring for offspring. The evolved structure, processes, and chemistry of the brain incline humans to strive not only for self-preservation but for the well-being of allied selves—first offspring, then mates, kin, and so on, in wider and wider "caring" circles. Separation and exclusion cause pain, and the company of loved ones causes pleasure; responding to feelings of social pain and pleasure, brains adjust their circuitry to local customs. In this way, caring is apportioned, conscience molded, and moral intuitions instilled. A key part of the story is oxytocin, an ancient body-and-brain molecule that, by decreasing the stress response, allows humans to develop the trust in one another necessary for the development of close-knit ties, social institutions, and morality. A major new account of what really makes us moral, Braintrust challenges us to reconsider the origins of some of our most cherished values.