PHIL 2020H Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Categorical Imperative, Indoor Rower, Chance Play
26 Jun 2018
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4 different kinds of respect
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How do you define respect?
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Immanuel Kant - work on morality, Imperative- something that must be done. The categorical imperative, Kant tells us, is
simply committing yourself to act in such a way that your actions could be rationally universalizable. - "treat everyone how
you want to be treated" but instead, "we treat everyone how any rational person would want to be treated"
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Respect and Kant's categorical imperative(s)
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The "veil of ignorance" is a thought experiment meant as a device to keep everyone committed (by their own self-interest) to
being generally fair in a hypothetical situation Rawls calls the "original position", where society's rules and structures are
being decided
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Fair play as Social Contract
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Trying to make everyone winners
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Ryall notes that Sheridan worries this means fairness can only be defined as "lack of unfairness" but I think that Rawls veil of
ignorance-- which isn't half bad for looking at the way society could fairly be set up-- runs into a different type of issue in sport
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This is the fact that in sports, there is typically a winner and a loser. The very nature of sports is competitive, whereas Rawls is trying
to view the nature of society as largely cooperative-- not that you couldn't have some competition as part of society just that's not
how Rawls is trying to structure it
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Its worth asking whether Rawls "Veil of Ignorance" can really be used in a sports context
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" a coach may say to her players, we dont play the game like that
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Fair play as a shared set of social norms-
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What do you think virtue is, in the context of sport
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Courage, determination,
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Ryall doesnt really end up addressing the notion of virtue on the field of sports, but I think it is worth examining-- even though it
will be admittedly difficult to define
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Ryall says that chapter 7 on technology in sport will examine 3 questions
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Everything except the player themselves
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Essentially technology is the outcome of an explicit attempt to provide solutions to identified problems
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Landscape technologies- playing surfaces/arena
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Implement technologies - tools and equipment such as balls and racquets
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Medical and Rehabilitative technologies - cortisone injections, altitude chambers
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Movement and biomechanical skill analysis- 2D and 3D analysis and movement tracking
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Self technologies- directly designed to affect the human body and mind, genetic modication and psychological
interventions
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Adjudication technologies - Hawk-eye, video replays
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Ryall lists 5 types of technologies
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So what is technology in the context of sport?
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These types of technology "all indicate the way in which we attempt to gain mastery over our performance in sport, to reduce the
part that luck and chance play in the outcome, and to quantify results to an exact measurement
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Why technology?
Over coming obstacles- One of the contradictions found in elite sport is the fact that sport by its nature is inefficient since it
involves the overcoming of unnecessary obstacles and yet there is a perfectionist desire to make performance as efficient as
possible. This contraction is exemplified in the attempt to test the limits of the "natural" human while at the same time
constantly striving (through scientific and technological knowledge and innovation) to surpass these "natural limits"
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In some ways, sport is founded on the desire to make things more difficult
At what point do running shoes stop being that thing between your feet and the ground and instead give a runner "an edge" maybe
even cut their run time
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Some basketball shoes give better grip on a gym floor than the average bare human foot (if there even is such a thing) does... How
natural is that?
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Track coach never told us to take any performance enhancing drugs, but he did give direction on what food we should eat in the
two days before a meet
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What about uniforms? How aerodynamic are they? Swim caps?
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Black paint under the eyes to reduce glare from the sun?
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All of these things are modifications of some type... Does that mean the athlete is not natural?
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Ryall raises what she calls the "illusion of the natural athlete"
Ryall notes how technology can drive us, not simply give us information. There can be a pressure (whether external or internal) to beat
your best time to raise your heart rate more, to row faster on your rowing machine etc.
Respect
February 6, 2018
12:57 PM
Philosophy of Sport and Recreation Page 1
Document Summary
Immanuel kant - work on morality, imperative- something that must be done. The categorical imperative, kant tells us, is simply committing yourself to act in such a way that your actions could be rationally universalizable. "treat everyone how you want to be treated" but instead, "we treat everyone how any rational person would want to be treated" This is the fact that in sports, there is typically a winner and a loser. Its worth asking whether rawls "veil of ignorance" can really be used in a sports context. Fair play as a shared set of social norms- " a coach may say to her players, we dont play the game like that. Ryall doesnt really end up addressing the notion of virtue on the field of sports, but i think it is worth examining-- even though it will be admittedly difficult to define. What do you think virtue is, in the context of sport.
