Athletics and Philosophy in the Ancient World

Athletics and Philosophy in the Ancient World PDF

Author: Heather L. Reid

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-01-02

Total Pages: 174

ISBN-13: 1317984951

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This book examines the relationship between athletics and philosophy in ancient Greece and Rome focused on the connection between athleticism and virtue. It begins by observing that the link between athleticism and virtue is older than sport, reaching back to the athletic feats of kings and pharaohs in early Egypt and Mesopotamia. It then traces the role of athletics and the Olympic Games in transforming the idea of aristocracy as something acquired by birth to something that can be trained. This idea of training virtue through the techniques and practice of athletics is examined in relation to Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Then Roman spectacles such as chariot racing and gladiator games are studied in light of the philosophy of Lucretius, Seneca, and Marcus Aurelius. The concluding chapter connects the book’s ancient observations with contemporary issues such as the use of athletes as role models, the relationship between money and corruption, the relative worth of participation and spectatorship, and the role of females in sport. The author argues that there is a strong link between sport and philosophy in the ancient world, calling them offspring of common parents: concern about virtue and the spirit of free enquiry. This book was previously published as a special issue of the Ethics and Sport.

Contemporary Athletics & Ancient Greek Ideals

Contemporary Athletics & Ancient Greek Ideals PDF

Author: Daniel A. Dombrowski

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2009-08-01

Total Pages: 175

ISBN-13: 0226155498

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Despite their influence in our culture, sports inspire dramatically less philosophical consideration than such ostensibly weightier topics as religion, politics, or science. Arguing that athletic playfulness coexists with serious underpinnings, and that both demand more substantive attention, Daniel Dombrowski harnesses the insights of ancient Greek thinkers to illuminate contemporary athletics. Dombrowski contends that the ideas of Plato, Aristotle, and Plotinus shed important light on issues—such as the pursuit of excellence, the concept of play, and the power of accepting physical limitations while also improving one’s body—that remain just as relevant in our sports-obsessed age as they were in ancient Greece. Bringing these concepts to bear on contemporary concerns, Dombrowski considers such questions as whether athletic competition can be a moral substitute for war, whether it necessarily constitutes war by other means, and whether it encourages fascist tendencies or ethical virtue. The first volume to philosophically explore twenty-first-century sport in the context of its ancient predecessor, Contemporary Athletics and Ancient Greek Ideals reveals that their relationship has great and previously untapped potential to inform our understanding of human nature.

Aretism

Aretism PDF

Author: Heather Reid

Publisher:

Published: 2013-02

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780739182086

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Aretism: An Ancient Sports Philosophy for the Modern Sports World provides a tripartite model of sports ethics founded on ancient Greek principles and focused on personal, civic, and global integration. Heather Reid and Mark Holowchak apply these concepts as a golden mean between the extremes of the commercialist and recreational models of competition. This treatment is most applicable to students and academics concerned with the philosophy of sport, but will also be of interest to those in sports professions.

Sport and Spectacle in the Ancient World

Sport and Spectacle in the Ancient World PDF

Author: Donald G. Kyle

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2014-12-31

Total Pages: 375

ISBN-13: 1118613562

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The second edition of Sport and Spectacle in the Ancient World updates Donald G. Kyle’s award-winning introduction to this topic, covering the Ancient Near East up to the late Roman Empire. • Challenges traditional scholarship on sport and spectacle in the Ancient World and debunks claims that there were no sports before the ancient Greeks • Explores the cultural exchange of Greek sport and Roman spectacle and how each culture responded to the other’s entertainment • Features a new chapter on sport and spectacle during the Late Roman Empire, including Christian opposition to pagan games and the Roman response • Covers topics including violence, professionalism in sport, class, gender and eroticism, and the relationship of spectacle to political structures

The Philosophical Athlete

The Philosophical Athlete PDF

Author: Heather Lynne Reid

Publisher:

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13:

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All athletes experience victory and defeat, but how many truly learn from the experience of sport? For ancient Greek philosophers, sport was an integral part of education. Today, athletics programs remain in schools, but we face a growing gap between the modern sports experience and enduring educational values. This book seeks to bridge that gap by advocating a philosophical approach to the sports experience. Combining issues and ideas from traditional philosophy with contemporary analyses of sport and applied "thinking activities," this book invites athletes to learn about life from their experience of sport. The text works its way from internal reflection to social interaction by addressing four important topics: self-discovery, responsibility, respect, and citizenship. This sequence is important because authentic self-knowledge is an essential foundation for effectively dealing with the personal and social challenges faced by philosophical athletes. Reid discusses specific issues such as violence, racism, and performance-enhancing drugs in their relevant contexts, although philosophical athletes focus on the big picture, approaching each issue from a complete vision of themselves, their moral commitments, and their social roles. Athletes as diverse as the teenage college recruit and the aging weekend-warrior will gain insight into their sports experience and into their lives. This philosophical approach maximizes what we can learn from sport and gives us the best chance for leading better lives because of it.

Introduction to the Philosophy of Sport

Introduction to the Philosophy of Sport PDF

Author: Heather Reid

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2022-09-29

Total Pages: 335

ISBN-13: 1538156210

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This comprehensive text examines the history, significance, and philosophical dimensions of sport. Introduction to the Philosophy of Sport, second edition, is organized to reflect the traditional division of philosophy into metaphysical, ethical, epistemological and political issues, while incorporating specific concerns of today’s athletic world, such as technology, violence, and professionalism. The second edition features expanded sections on social categories (including race, gender, and disability), sport in schools, and collegiate sports. Each chapter includes discussion questions, and the book features a comprehensive glossary.

Sport and Society in Ancient Greece

Sport and Society in Ancient Greece PDF

Author: Mark Golden

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1998-09-10

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13: 9780521497909

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Sport and Society in Ancient Greece provides a concise and readable introduction to ancient Greek sport. It covers such topics as the links between sport, religion and warfare, the origins and history of the Olympic games, and the spirit of competition among the Greeks. Its main focus, however, is on Greek sport as an arena for the creation and expression of difference among individuals and groups. Sport not only identified winners and losers. It also drew boundaries between groups (Greeks and barbarians, boys and men, males and females) and offered a field for debate on the relative worth of athletic and equestrian competition. The book includes guides to the ancient evidence and to modern scholarship on the subject.

Athletics in the Ancient World

Athletics in the Ancient World PDF

Author: E. Norman Gardiner

Publisher: Courier Corporation

Published: 2012-06-11

Total Pages: 356

ISBN-13: 0486147452

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Concise, convincing book emphasizes relationship between Greek and Roman athletics and religion, art, and education. Colorful descriptions of the pentathlon, foot-race, wrestling, boxing, ball playing, and more. 137 black-and-white illustrations.

A History and Philosophy of Sport and Physical Education: From Ancient Civilizations to the Modern World

A History and Philosophy of Sport and Physical Education: From Ancient Civilizations to the Modern World PDF

Author: Robert A. Mechikoff

Publisher: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 484

ISBN-13:

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This engaging and informative text will hold the attention of students and scholars as they take a journey through time to understand the role that history and philosophy have played in shaping the course of sport and physical education in Western and selected non-Western civilizations. From Mesoamerica and Ancient Greece to the 2008 Olympic Games, the book touches on religion, politics, social movements, and individuals as they contributed to the development of sport and physical education. An extensive array of pedagogical tools--including timelines, comprehensive lists of chapter objectives, suggested websites, and discussion questions--aids the learning experience.

Reflecting on Modern Sport in Ancient Olympia

Reflecting on Modern Sport in Ancient Olympia PDF

Author: Heather Reid

Publisher:

Published: 2017-08-15

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9781942495215

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Pindar called Olympia ¿Queen of truth,¿ so it was appropriate that nearly 100 philosophers of sport from 18 countries on four continents presented 80 different papers there in September of 2016. This proceedings gathers fourteen of them, including two of the keynotes. Topics range from sport in education to transgender athletes to Taijiquan. Authors include Drew A. Hyland, Francisco Javier López Frías, José Luis Pérez Triviño, Terry J. McMurtry, Junko Yamaguchi, Emanuel Hurych, Boryana Angelova-Igova, Daniel T. Durbin, Kim Hee-sub, Kwon Oh-ryun, Matt Waddell, Angela Schneider, Matteo Cacchiarelli, Sarah Teetzel, and Heather L. Reid.