The Olympics and Philosophy: Publication Announcement

The Olympics and Philosophy is now available in physical and Kindle formats. The book is divided into 6 parts: The Ideal Olympian, Ancient Heritage, Modern Ideals, Ethical Issues, Race and Gender Issues, and Political Power. The chapters include Olympic figures Jesse Owens, Emil Zatopek, Tommie Smith, John Carlos, and Wilma Rudolph and philosophers Jane English, Aristotle, and Edmund Husserl, among others. There are discussions of Olympic boxing, soccer/football, women's beach volleyball, and various athletic events.


From the publisher's description:

It is said the champions of the ancient Olympic Games received a crown of olive leaves, symbolizing a divine blessing from Nike, the winged goddess of victory. While the mythology of the ancient games has come to exemplify the highest political, religious, community, and individual ideals of the time, the modern Olympic Games, by comparison, are widely known as an international, bi-annual sporting event where champions have the potential to earn not only glory for their country, but lucrative endorsement deals and the perks of worldwide fame. The Olympics and Philosophy examines the Olympic Movement from a variety of theoretical perspectives to uncover the connection between athleticism and philosophy for a deeper appreciation of the Olympic Pillars of Sport, Environment, and Culture.

While today's Olympic champions are neither blessed by the gods nor rewarded with wreaths of olive, the original spirit and ancient ideals of the Olympic Movement endure in its modern embodiment. Editors Heather L. Reid and Michael W. Austin have assembled a team of international scholars to explore topics such as the concept of excellence, ethics, doping, gender, and race. Interweaving ancient and modern Olympic traditions, The Olympics and Philosophy considers the philosophical implications of the Games' intersection with historical events and modern controversy in a unique analysis of tradition and the future of the Olympiad.

Nationality, Eligibility and British Wrestling

Readers might be interested in an article in The Guardian on the controversy surrounding Eastern European wrestlers who have been fast tracked into competing for GB in the forthcoming Olympics.

British Wrestling's chairman, Malcolm Morley said, "The only countries with a wealth of talent are the eastern bloc countries. Some of the athletes we brought over wanted to compete in international competition. The only way they could do so was to transfer allegiance to Great Britain. Who can stop them living their dream? We've got to do the best for our sport at the end of the day."

Whilst The Guardian's Owain Gibson notes, "The debate cuts to the heart of issues around Britain's medal hopes and how they are funded, while embracing emotive questions of national identity and sporting fairness."

Sport for the Common Good

Ethics and the Ancient Olympics

 Philosophy of Sport contributor Jesus Ilundain will give a presentation entitled "The Ancient Olympic Games: Ethics and the Clash at Thermopylea," with the Institute for Philosophy in Public Life.
The presentation can be watched online and viewers can chat at
http://www.philosophyinpubliclife.org/

Wednesday April 14
6:00 pm

Coubertin Olympic Awards Essay Contest

 Interested students should check this out:
http://www.coubertin-awards.org.uk/

Canadian Women Win Gold, Drink Molson!

 Photo: Luke Winn, Sports Illustrated

Here's one of the best quotes about Canada's women taking gold, and the ensuing celebration on the ice:

Is it possible to just see something like this, laugh at it, and be happy for these girls? 


I wonder, and would like to hear from readers and fellow contributors, if the same sort of uproar over the on-ice celebration would be happening if it was a men's hockey team celebrating a gold medal victory?

Is sport worth dying for?

See the article at Religion Dispatches for a discussion of this question. It seems to me that in one sense, sport is not worth dying for, given that it is a form of play, albeit serious play. As the author of the piece points out, the real question is whether or not sport is worth the risk of death, which is present in many sports. I would answer that yes, at least some sports are worth the risk of death, because for some they are near-necessary elements of a flourishing human life. I'm not arguing that we should not seek to make sports as safe as possible--so the changes to the Olympic luge run might be justified, as are whatever can be done in the NFL to prevent brain damage from head trauma--but I do believe that we should not go to the other extreme and make physical safety the primary concern that trumps all others. When I ride my bicycle on the country roads of Madison County, it is generally pretty safe. However, in some sense I'm risking my life, as all it takes is one distracted or drunk driver to end my existence, or just one mistake by me on the bike sending me hurtling into concrete, asphalt, or barbed wire. Of course, we all risk our lives when we go to the grocery store, cross the street, go to work, and so on. I won't be hang gliding or sky diving any time soon, but as soon as the snow and ice go away and the temperature climbs back above freezing, I'll be back on my bike, riding carefully.

HT: Rob Sica

Hitchens on Fool's Gold

Apparently, Christopher Hitchens believes that it is not only religion that poisons everything, but sports as well.
There is a considerable body of  philosophical literature on whether sport is fascistoid, as well as other aspects of the dark side of sports. And while Hitchens tells many stories in support of  his thesis that sports breed conflict and bring out the worst in human nature, there are many stories one could tell of how sports bring out the best in human nature that deserve to be told.

One of the beautiful aspects of the Olympic Games is that we'll witness examples of perseverance, courage, humility, and hope. Sure, there will be stories of cheaters, people with athletic skill but little moral excellence, and so on, but in this way sport is like the rest of human life. My own hope is that we'll attend more to the good stories, not only of the culmination of years of training as medals are won, but as we see actual lives reflecting the Olympic words "It's not the triumph, but the struggle."

Intellectual Muscle

Intellectual Muscle is an eclectic series of talks by prominent and up-and-coming Canadian intellectuals on topics related to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Public lectures will be delivered at universities across Canada and made available online in podcast form. The online program will include polls, discussion forums and other interactive features, providing Canadians with a unique opportunity to participate in a series of national dialogues.

Intellectual Muscle, developed by Vancouver 2010 and the University of British Columbia, in collaboration with universities across Canada and The Globe and Mail, will run from September 2009 until the end of the Games in March 2010.


(Thanks to Gabriela Tymowski for the link.)

Olympic Dreams and Fears (of a Philosophical Nature)

In just a few short weeks, the Beijing Olympics will begin. A fellow contributor to the blog suggested that we all address the following questions, which are intentionally wide in scope to allow for a wide variety of answers, from the personal to the political:

1. What is one good thing that you want to see happen at the Olympics?

2. What is one bad thing that you fear might happen, and what, if anything, can be done about it in advance?

Contributors as well as readers are invited to post their answers in the comments to this post.

Boycotting the Olympic Games

I've been thinking a little bit recently about the ethics of boycotting the Olympics. A Google search reveals some interesting calls for boycotting the upcoming Games in China due to human rights violations in China, the situation with Tibet, and China's failure to use its influence in the Sudan to deal with the genocide in Darfur. There are calls for the U.S.A. to boycott the Games, for President Bush to boycott the opening ceremonies, for the European Union to boycott the Games, and reports of celebrities engaging in individual boycotts.

There are several interesting questions specific to this situation, and to the general relationship between politics, ethics, and the Olympic Games. What sort of philosophical justifications have been or can be given for and against boycotting the Games? Are there principled reasons for boycotting? Must a boycott have a good chance at being effective in producing positive political change to be justified? What about considerations of fairness to the athletes who will miss out on the Games if a boycott precludes their participation?

I would be interested to see what readers of this blog have to say about these issues.

What would a "good" Olympic Games look like in 2012?

For some interesting answers to this question, see the conclusions of the 2006 Olympic symposium including the British Philosophy of Sport Association and UK Sport here.
The last set of comments by Jim Parry are particularly interesting for those interested in Olympism and moral philosophy.