tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3060841334850880231.post2528839464946110278..comments2024-03-13T02:15:59.397-07:00Comments on Philosophy of Sport: John Daly discusses Tiger WoodsMike Austinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02489700864050607425noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3060841334850880231.post-17874458676637002902008-04-20T13:16:00.000-07:002008-04-20T13:16:00.000-07:00I was not precise enough in my comments, and I agr...I was not precise enough in my comments, and I agree with you. It is not sport that is the mutual quest for excellence, but more specifically this is a way to conceive of athletic competition. I would still say that 1-4 in my first comments above are applicable, even if the quest for excellence is reserved for more serious participants in sport.Mike Austinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02489700864050607425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3060841334850880231.post-74560493593213406332008-04-16T09:20:00.000-07:002008-04-16T09:20:00.000-07:00I have no problem defining golf as a sport (interp...I have no problem defining golf as a sport (interpreted as a physical contest/game--by that criterion, competitive shooting e.g., is a sport). <BR/><BR/>My question for Mike is about the "mutual quest for excellence" criterion for sport: if one's goal in a sport is not excellence but rather simple competence or adequacy, does that disqualify one as a "sportsman/woman"? <BR/><BR/>This question speaks to the seriousness of sport: we all know people who merely "play at" golf--taking mulligans, kicking balls out of bushes, etc.,--and those people are not actually "playing" golf. In violating the constitutive rules of the game they show they are not serious about the game.<BR/><BR/>But I would then have more difficulty with the suggestion that seems to follow, that the casual golfer (Daly included, perhaps?) who merely "plays at" a sport is thereby not engaged in the "sport" per se. Can't one be engaged in a sport and not desire to improve one's skills? Why does the quest for excellence define sport?Jim Tantillohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12520467623399679472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3060841334850880231.post-82263681482082268202008-04-16T04:07:00.000-07:002008-04-16T04:07:00.000-07:00Woods states "The thing is that not everyone consi...Woods states "The thing is that not everyone considers golf a sport and they don't treat it as such."<BR/>We were just discussing the definition of sport yesterday in my classes. It is difficult to give a precise analysis of sport in terms of necessary and sufficient conditions, but Boxill has laid out some paradigmatic features of sport. Using her list, golf would qualify as a sport:<BR/>1. voluntary activity<BR/>2. physically challenging<BR/>3. rule-governed<BR/>4. competition<BR/>Regarding Daly's remarks, if golf is a sport according to the above set of paradigmatic features, then he becomes a competitor who fails to train in order to achieve excellence in his sport. If sport, as some sport philosophers have conceived of it, is "a mutual quest for excellence through challenge," then Daly is not only failing to realize his potential, but by so doing he is failing to do his part in this mutual quest.Mike Austinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02489700864050607425noreply@blogger.com