New Book: Defining Sport

I'm proud to announce the publication of my edited volume: Defining Sport: Conceptions and Borderlines. Several contributors to this blog contributed to this volume.

This is the first volume in Lexington Books' Studies in the Philosophy of Sport series. [As editor of this series, I'd love to hear ideas for contributions to this series. Contact me with ideas.] 

Part One examines several of the standard and influential approaches to defining sport. Part Two uses these approaches to examine various challenging borderline cases (e.g. bullfighting, skateboarding, esport, Crossfit). These chapters examine the interplay of the borderline cases with the definition and provide a more thorough and clearer understanding of the definition and the given cases.

See the full listing of chapters and contributors on my SportsEthicist blog.

It is available from Lexington, Amazon, and other booksellers. There is also an ebook version.

IAPS at APA: Defining Sport

This year's IAPS session at the Central APA meeting in Chicago is featuring three papers that tackle issues in defining the concept of 'sport'. I hope to see you there! 

Time: Saturday, March 5: 12:15–2:15 p.m

Topic: Defining Sport

Chair: Shawn E. Klein (Arizona State University)

Speakers:

• Chad Carlson (Hope College) “A Three-Pointer: Revisiting Three Crucial Issues in the ‘Tricky Triad’ of Play, Games, and Sport”
• Francisco Javier López Frías (Pennsylvania State University) “Broad Internalism and Interpretation: A Plurality of Interpretivist Approaches”
• Kevin Schieman (United States Military Academy) “Hopscotch Dreams: Rectifying Our Conceptual Understanding of Sport with Its Cultural Significance”

The Sports Ethics Show: Sport Studies Symposium 2015

The 4th annual Sport Studies Symposium was held April 24, 2015. In this episode, the symposium participants discuss the ideas raised by the papers given at the symposium.

In the first half of the episode, Mike Perry and Shawn E. Klein talk with Matt Adamson, Stephen Mosher, and Synthia Syndor about the nature of sport studies, its past, and its future.

In the second half, Shawn and Mike talk with Aaron Harper, Stephanie Quinn, and Zach Smith about legal realism and sport, sport in the ancient world, and theology of sport.

Listen to this episode.

Subscribe to the Sport Ethics Show in iTunes: iTunes Subscribe

Fourth Annual Sport Studies Symposium: Sport Studies: The State of the Art

Rockford University is hosting the Fourth Annual Sport Studies Symposium on Friday, April 24, 2015 from 1:00pm to 5:00pm (CT) in Severson Auditorium, Scarborough Hall, Rockford University, Rockford, IL.

The conference is free to attend and light refreshments will be served.

Panel One: The Study of Sport

•  “Breaking Down Binaries: Considering the Possibilities of a Dialogue Between Science Studies and Play Studies” – Matthew Adamson (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) 
•  “The Long, Slow, Tortured Death of Sport Studies in American Colleges (And the Possible Path Toward Resurrection)” – Stephen D. Mosher, Ph.D. (Ithaca College) 
•  “Conceptualizing the Nature of Sport” – Synthia Sydnor, Ph.D. (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

Panel Two: Sport Studies as Interdisciplinary

•  “Interpreting Interpretivism: A Legal Realist Account of Cheating in Sport” -Aaron Harper, Ph.D. (West Liberty University) 
•  “Then and Now:  Sport and Spectacle in Ancient Greece and Rome” – Stephanie Quinn, Ph.D. (Rockford University) 
•  “'Theology of Sport: Mapping the Field” – Zach Smith (United States Sports Academy)

Symposium Flyer (PDF)

Sports Ethics Show: Are Video Games Sport?

In this episode of The Sports Ethics Show, Joey Gawrysiack (Shenandoah University) and I discuss whether video games can be sport.

Can video games be considered Sport? A controversial question because it raises questions about the nature of sport and the nature of video games as well as the value of each. Dr. Joey Gawrysiak of Shenandoah University joins the show to discuss the ways in which we can understand video games as sport. 

 You can subscribe to The Sports Ethics Show in iTunes or get the RSS Feed. More information at The Sports Ethicist Blog

The Sports Ethics Show: Animal Sports

Fellow Philosophy of Sport contributor Joan Forry and I talk about Animal Sports in the new episode of The Sports Ethics Podcast.

Are competitions involving non-human animals, like horse racing, dog agility, and so on, sports? If so, under what conditions are animal sports morally justifiable? We also discuss activities like bull-fighting, dog fighting, and cockfighting.

You can subscribe to The Sports Ethics Podcast in iTunes or get the RSS Feed. More information at The Sports Ethicist Blog

Reminder: CFA for Defining Sport (DLD July 11)

The Call for Abstracts for Defining Sport book proposal is approaching. The deadline is July 11, 2014.

The focus of the book is to bring new scholarly attention to the issues and questions involved in defining and explaining the nature of sport. There are several classic works that treat these issues, but with the growth of the philosophy of sport a renewed focus on how to define and conceptualize sport is needed.

The original call is here: http://sportsethicist.com/2014/05/15/call-for-papers-defining-sport/

Call for Papers: Defining Sport

Call for Papers: Book Chapters

• Working Title: “Defining Sport: Contemporary Explorations”
• Publisher: Proposal will be submitted to Lexington Books
• Editor: Shawn E. Klein, PhD; sklein@rockford.edu

The focus of the book is to bring new scholarly attention to the issues and questions involved in defining and explaining the nature of sport. There are several classic works that treat these issues, but with the growth of the philosophy of sport a renewed focus on how to define and conceptualize sport is needed. Chapter ideas:

• Analyses of common approaches to defining sport (or related concepts such as competition or athlete) in the philosophy of sport literature. (E.g. Bernard Suits, essentialism, formalism, interpretivism, and externalism.)
• New approaches to defining sport (and related concepts).
• Examination of borderline cases  (e.g. Motor Sports; Animal Sports, cyber-sports, fantasy sports)
• Analysis of problematic cases ( e.g violent/blood sports)
• Discussions of methodological differences between philosophy and other disciplines in terms of defining sport and related concepts.
  • E.g. Are there differences between philosophical approaches and sociological approaches? How might these differences affect how sport is studied or discussed in these disciplines and across disciplines?

If you are interested in contributing a book chapter to this volume, please send a tentative title, a brief abstract for review (500 words) and C.V or short bio, to the book editor: Shawn E. Klein: sklein@rockford.edu

• Abstract deadline: July 11, 2014
• Notification of abstract acceptance by July 25, 2014
• Chapter Manuscript Deadline: December 12, 2014
  • Length: 6000-10,000 words (inclusive of references and notes).
  • Manuscripts should conform to Chicago style.

PDF: Call for Papers Defining Sport
Cross-posted: http://sportsethicist.com/2014/05/15/call-for-papers-defining-sport/

A Robust Definition of a Sport

In doing some reading in another context, I came across the following minimum criteria for something to be a sport:

“An activity is not a sport unless there are challenges to be overcome and a clear set of rules about how to confront these challenges.” -- J P Spiro (2008) Defending the Master Race: Conservation, Eugenics, and the Legacy of Madison

This was offered as a way to distinguish a "sportsman" from a "market hunter" in the US in the late 1800s. But it got me to wondering if it has a more general application. Clearly, the two criteria--challenges and clear rules--are not sufficient to define a sport, but are they necessary?

I am sure that ground has been broken on the question of what makes a sport a sport, so pointers to that literature would be greatly appreciated.