Modern Sport Ethics

The descriptions and examples of unethical behaviors in sport in this book will challenge readers to rethink how they view sport and question whether participating in sport builds character-especially at the youth and amateur levels. Sport potentially can teach character as well as social and moral values, but only when these positive concepts are consistently taught, modeled, and reinforced by sport leaders with the moral courage to do so. The seeming moral crisis threatening amateur and youth sport-evidenced by athletes, coaches, and parents alike making poor ethical choices-and ongoing scandals regarding performance-enhancing drug use by professional athletes make sports ethics a topic of great concern. This work enables readers to better understand the ethical challenges facing competitive sport by addressing issues such as gamesmanship, doping, cheating, sportsmanship, fair play, and respect for the game. A compelling read for coaches, sport administrators, players, parents, and sport fans, the book examines specific examples of unethical behaviors-many cases of which occur in amateur and educational sports-to illustrate how these incidents threaten the perception that sport builds character. It identifies and investigates the multiple reasons for cheating in sport, such as the fact that the rewards for succeeding are so high, and the feeling of athletes that they must behave as they do to "level the playing field" because everyone else is cheating, being violent, taking performance-enhancing drugs, or doing whatever it takes to win. Readers will gain insight into how coaches and sport administrators can achieve the goals for youth, interscholastic, intercollegiate, and Olympic sport by stressing moral values and character development as well as see how specific recommendations can help ensure that sport can serve to build character rather than teach bad behavior in the pursuit of victory.

The book attempts to provide a wide overview of key ethical matters in the philosophy of sport: What is fair play? Is strategic fouling legitimate? What is the role of cheating and gamesmanship in sport? What can be said about doping and physical enhancement? How can we approach gender issues that come from the core of the practice of sport? Does sport share any common characteristics, or even roots, with racism, violence or nationalism? Should cyborgathletes compete in equal conditions with organic athletes? What can we do with new technologies in sport? In the book there is an analyse of all possible solutions that the main authors or contemporary sport philosopher has brought forward on a topic, and after having laid out the current panorama, the author deal with each of them directly and personally.

This book provides an inter-disciplinary examination of the relationship between sport, spirituality and religion. It covers a wide-range of topics, such as prayer and sport, religious and spiritual perspectives on athletic identity and ‘flow’ in sport, theological analysis of genetic performance enhancement technologies, sectarianism in Scottish football, a spiritual understanding of sport psychology consultancy in English premiership soccer and how Zen may be useful in sports performance and participation. As modern sport is often intertwined with commercial and political agendas, this book also provides an important corrective to the “win at all costs” culture of modern sport, which cannot always be fully understood through secular ethical inquiry. This is a unique and important addition to the current literature for a wide-range of fields including theology and religious studies, psychology, health studies, ethics and sports studies.

The moral significance of sport -- Winning, cheating, and the ethics of competition -- Health, safety, and violence in competitive sport -- Enhancement, technology, and fairness in competitive sport -- Competitive sport: education or mis-education? -- Sports, equity, and society -- Concluding comment: the two sides of the force or are sports so great after all?

Modern Sport and the African American Experience is a collection of essays from some of America's most brilliant and vibrant sport sociologists and race scholars. This text highlights more of the experiences of African Americans in modern sport than any of its kind. Among its diverse topics, this book examines predictions about African American sports performance and participation in the 21st century, discusses the role of sport in African American culture, and gives a candid look at the experiences of African American athletes attending America's predominantly white colleges and universities. It also discusses the experiences of African American women in these environments, a largely ignored topic. A book of this type would not be complete without also examining racism, discrimination, and the conflict black athletes and coaches encounter with the white establishment. This volume is a representation of Dr. Gary Sailes' well-known, much-respected scholarship and work as a consultant in American commercial sports.

Sports play a significant role in society, as they are a multilevel field of interest. Nonetheless, a major problem that has been undermining the field is the rise of issues surrounding integrity. Indeed, major scandals of corruption have been disclosed, and they have challenged the effectiveness of sports institutions. As a result, it is vital to explore how to navigate the complex landscape of legal and ethical issues. Law, Ethics, and Integrity in the Sports Industry is an essential reference source that discusses the legitimacy and integrity of sports institutions by focusing on the social, economic, and political influence of sports. Featuring research on topics such as global sports governance, legal and ethical implications, and the validity of e-sports, this book is ideally designed for scholars interested in institutional aspects of sports and ethics, academicians, researchers, advanced-level students, and officials with a broad interest in sports seeking coverage on the institutional aspects of sports and ethics.

Written from the contrasting yet complementary perspectives of sociology and philosophy, this book explores the far-reaching ethical consequences of the runaway commodification of sport, focusing on those instances where commodification gives rise to morally undesirable consequences. The authors consider three main areas of concern for participators and observers alike: the corrosion of the core meanings and values of sport, the increasing elitism of access to sporting commodities, and the undermining of social conditions that support sporting communities. Unique in its focus on the ethical dimension of the powerful economics of today’s sport, this book will be of interest, not only to those in the fields of sports studies and ethics of sport, but also to academics, researchers and students in philosophy of morality, sociology, and the ethics of globalization as viewed through the ultimate globalized phenomenon of modern sport.

Highly skilled athletes are produced by technologies of training which seek to create the athlete as a singular identity. Yet the disciplinary model of modern sport is consistently disrupted by the diversity and hybridity of the participants. Using Foucault's work on disciplinary power as a theoretical framework, Debra Shogan, an academic in sports ethics and a coach of high performance athletes, examines the ways in which athletes are produced through technologies of training and the ethical issues which emerge when demands to improve performance envelopes athletes, coaches, administrators and sports scientists in decisions about how far to push the limits of performance. Making the case for a new, postmodern sports ethic, Shogan shows how the juxtaposition of hybrid athletes with the homogenizing technologies of sport discipline opens up spaces for questioning, refusing, and perhaps creating new ways of participating in sport.

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.

Sports have long played an important role in society. By exploring the evolving link between sporting behaviour and the prevailing ethics of the time this comprehensive and wide-ranging study illuminates our understanding of the wider social significance of sport. The primary aim of Sports, Virtues and Vices is to situate ethics at the heart of sports via ‘virtue ethical’ considerations that can be traced back to the gymnasia of ancient Greece. The central theme running through the book is that sports are effectively modern morality plays: universal practices of moral education for the masses and - when coached, officiated and played properly - a valuable vehicle for ethical development. Including a wealth of contemporary sporting examples, the book explores key ethical issues such as: How the pursuit of sporting excellence can lead to harm Doping, greed and shame Biomedical technology as a challenge to the virtue of elite athletes Defining a ‘virtue ethical account’ in sport Family vices and virtues in sport Written by one of the world's foremost sports philosophers, this book powerfully unites the fields of sports ethics and medical ethics. It is essential reading for all students and scholars with an interest in the ethics and philosophy of sport.