Sport as moral education and human development

Philosophy of Sport
Introduction
Sport integrates play, work, ethical principles (such as fairness and duty to adhere to the rules), morality (such as goodness and respect towards others), and aesthetics (the beauty of the game, the grace with which it is played, the excellence of form, the appearance of one’s uniform and so on). All of these aspects of sport are what make up the concept of the philosophy of sport. This paper will provide my own personal philosophy of sport, a comparison of my philosophy to other philosophers as well as to other socio-cultural aspects of sport, and an explanation of how my philosophy has guided my career choice and will impact me in my chosen field. My Personal Philosophy of Sport My personal philosophy of sport is that sport makes us into better human beings: it has the potential to humanize us—to teach us about beauty, patience, endurance, character, the importance of following the rules, the value of learning a skill, the rewards of competition, the glory of victory, and how to have graciousness in defeat. Sport is more than just a contest: it is a vision of life. The playing field is where it all levels out. One leaves behind one’s status, one’s identity in the outside world. One becomes just another player when one steps onto the field or the court or the arena. One becomes a combatant and must rely on intellectual prowess, athleticism, and determination in order to make an impact.
Some will be more impactful than others, but even those who can only contribute in small ways can still contribute and their contributions taken all together add up. Sport can teach individuals about the merits of team work, how to dedicate yourself to the good of the group. It can teach one about the value of morality—why it is important to treat people with respect and why honor should come before all things (cheating dishonors you and the team!). But in everything, the sport should be appreciated for what it is, valued for what it can give to those who give to it. Comparing Philosophies Plato viewed sport as part of one’s moral education (Reid). Sport allowed individuals to find self-worth and value through competition in games. Competitors may be socially unequal in life, but on the playing field, the inequalities of society vanished: what mattered was one’s skill, one’s ability to adapt to one’s opponent. Sport could teach a person about the virtue of perseverance, or the virtue of courage. For these reasons, Plato recommended it as part of one’s life and growing up. My philosophy is not really any different. A lot of the same ideas put forward by Plato are echoed in my philosophy: I view sport as an occasion for moral learning and for teaching and developing one’s character.
The more modern philosophy of sport is that somewhere along the way, intellectuals looked upon sport as something inferior—something that only jocks should pursue—in other words, people without any intellectual gifts. But this is not a very intelligent way to look at sport, actually. Even Confucius in ancient China saw the good of training in some sort of sport: it was part of the educative process in his teachings, part of what enabled a person to mature and develop holistically. The modern view of sport being something for people who were not “into” studying is callous and superficial. Intelligent people can and should be interested in sport just as much as they are interested in learning from books. Sport can educate the mind, the character and the body just as much as a book can. As Weiss shows, those who think sport to be vulgar are really the ones who are vulgar.
Nowadays, however, sport has become so specialized and competitive that a lot of the virtue has been drained from it. People routinely cheat in sports (by using performance enhancers or engaging in scheming to create super teams or paying refs or players to throw games). It has become less honorable in many ways. In some amateur competition there can still be found a sense of the honor that athletes should have: for instance, among some of the MMA fighters in the world there is the sense that opponents should respect one another and not engage in “trash talking” just to promote a fight. This is the type of education that sport can still have and it is what I think people should look for in sport. When sport is corrupted by the influence of money and celebrity and power and fame, it becomes something other than what it should be. Other Socio-Cultural Aspects of Sport Other socio-cultural aspects of sport include the fact that it is now seen as a way to make a career for oneself. It is a way to become famous, a way to rise out of one’s socio-economic status (though most professionals actually come from upper class families who can afford to spend money on training their children to be professional athletes). For others, sport is an opportunity to exploit athletes for financial gain. This is what happens in college sports. Basketball players and football players at American Universities will bring in billions of dollars year round by the athletes themselves will see none of that. Meanwhile, they are expected to attend classes and get good grades in order to be eligible to play. They are also expected to be at practice, which is basically a full-time job. They are like employees of the school and the entertainment service they provide to fans brings in a lot of revenue for the school. The focus is all on winning titles and championships and it has gotten so competitive that teams are paying athletes to come play for them so that the team can be the best. The FBI has gotten involved and it is currently a big scandal. What lessons are being learned? How is character being developed? This is one of the big socio-cultural problems of sport today.
Instead of people learning humility and integrity from sport, which is my philosophical take on sport, they are learning that sport can make them famous if they excel. They can make millions in endorsement deals. They can sign with Nike if they go pro, and they can hawk the shoes of the company that makes its products by exploiting the labor of poor Asians. There is not justice or integrity in any of it. The pro athletes just see dollar signs. Many of them become train wrecks because they never used sport to train their characters. They just had talent and used that talent to become rich and famous and then used that fame to lead dissolute lives. Too much fame is given to athletes. It has become a big business. It has also become a vain dream to others, who would be better served by society by being taught to focus on school and learning a real world skill because they are not pro-caliber and will not be able to make it all the way. Yet, unfortunately, many youths hitch their futures to the dream of playing in the big leagues and never accept the possible reality that they will not make it there. They reach adulthood and have nothing to fall back on. In short, too much emphasis can be placed on sport, to the detriment of young people’s education. Sport should be part of education—but not the whole of it. How My Philosophy Has Guided My Career Choice My philosophy has guided my career choice by allowing me to take from sport what was useful; I learned about myself and developed my character. Now I have chosen a profession that is in line with my natural talents. I am happy with my choice but also realize that I must be disciplined in order to make good on the opportunity. I am not pursuing my career for fame or because I expect to make millions in endorsements. I am pursuing it because I know I must work—and that is one thing sport taught me: if you want to have success you have to put in the effort. It will not come to you otherwise.
In my chosen field, I also can apply the lessons I have learned from sport—lessons about morality and integrity. My desire is that my character will reflect well on the company that hires me and that I will engage in ethical leadership so that the company never has reason to regret employing me. My desire is ultimately to serve the firm that I work for because that is my duty and responsibility. Just like a player serves the greater good of the team by taking a smaller role when necessary or a bigger role if called to do so, so too do I plan to put myself at the service of the company. I want to do well in my role and execute my responsibilities with grace and excellence so that I can inspire others, as well.
Conclusion
Sport is a great opportunity for people to learn about themselves, their strengths and their limitations. It is an opportunity to learn balance and form, respect and humility. It is an opportunity to take pride in oneself and to serve one’s team or country if one is representing at a high level. It should not be, however, an excuse to cheat or lie. It should not be seen as an opportunity to exploit. It should not be seen as a springboard to wealth and celebrity because for 99% of the people on the planet it will not be that at all. Sport should be something that trains the will and the mind.

Works Cited Reid, Heather. Introduction to the Philosophy of Sport (Elements of philosophy). Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2012. Weiss, Paul. Sport: a philosophic inquiry. Southern Illinois University Press, 1969.