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Fair Play: The Ethics of Sport by Simon, Robert L (2003) Paperback
While major sporting events, such as the Super Bowl, the Olympics, and the World Cup, attract the attention of millions, and sometimes show sport at its best, growing concern over scandals and abuses in sport have increasingly raised questions about its moral standing. Stars are deprived of their Olympic Gold because of their use of performance-enhancing drugs, athletic programs of some major universities are racked with scandals, and the behavior of sports stars too frequently is violent and abusive. However, ethical concerns about sports run deeper than current scandals in today's headlines. Other concerns question the value of athletic competition itself. Does athletic competition reflect a selfish concern with winning at the expense of others? Should the role of sports in our educational institutions be significantly diminished? Does sport embody or express significant moral values? Or is it a corrupting influence, distracting us from more important concerns? Even worse, does it glorify the selfish pursuit of victory, and even violence against opponents and their fans, or against parents, referees, and opposing coaches in youth sports?Still other issues concern sport and social policy. What does gender equity in sport require? Do professional sports and the mass market corrupt the nature of sport and turn it into mere entertainment for the masses at the expense of the pursuit of true athletic excellence? Do sports organizations have good grounds for prohibiting the use of performance enhancing drugs, or are they illegitimately restricting the freedom of some athletes to pursue excellence in their own way?Fair Play is a rigorous exploration of the ethical presuppositions of competitive athletics and their connection both to ethical theory and to concrete moral dilemmas that arise in actual athletic competition. Professor Simon develops a model of athletic competition as a mutually acceptable quest for excellence and applies it to a variety of ethical issues that arise in sport. This edition of Fair Play adds new material throughout, including revised discussions of such topics as Title IX and gender equity, the commercialization of sport, the use of performance-enhancing drugs, the nature of sport, and the role of sport as a form of moral education.
- GenresSportsPhilosophy
Paperback
First published July 31, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 20, 2022
Great for Students and sports fans
Great book about ethics in sports, also a good general introduction to ethics in general. Makes ethics easier to understand if you are into sports. I read it as a part of my philosophy of sport class and it was eye opening.
Great book about ethics in sports, also a good general introduction to ethics in general. Makes ethics easier to understand if you are into sports. I read it as a part of my philosophy of sport class and it was eye opening.
December 21, 2017
A lot of information for those going into any kind of sports management or administration.
October 21, 2014
The analysis in most places was sane, thorough, with no whiff of leftist thought in sight. It excels at establishing the purpose of sports at a fundamental level as a pursuit of excellency. Also succesfully argues that sports does not neccessarily instil character but rather reveals and nutures it, which goes against the popular view of sports as a means of rehabilitation.
Issue of cheating, in the variety of forms they come, including the use of performance enhancement drugs is also discussed, arguing that one cannot be said to be participating in the same sport as a competitor if the rules are not followed. Simon's case against doping is the book's high point. The intentional hurt aspect of Boxing is not something he seems comfortable with. Although his objections to Boxing is a little weak, it is a different case if the same logic is applied with the increasingly popular MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) where the level of intentional, hurtful violence is ratcheted up.
Where it fails is in the examples the author gives, which are mostly American (Football), there's even a whole chapter on intercollegiate sports which is not at all relevant to anyone outside of America, although some Truths can be gleaned from this, especially his treatment of the issue of when Colleges exploit minority Athletes at the expense of their (the Athlete's) academic achievement.
The final chapter on the social responsibility of sports stars comes to an inconclusive end, as we are left to figure out for ourselves if the public are right to demand morally upright sports stars. In the famous words of the Basketball player, Charles Barkley "I'm not a role model... Just because I dunk a basketball doesn't mean I should raise your kids". Or for a more culturally relevant example, should Ched Evans be allowed to Football (Soccer) again?
Not a book I'll recommend, although it seems to be popular as it is already on its 4th edition, I bought the 2nd because it was cheaper. It is however quite good as a starting point for thinking about the philosophy of sports.
Issue of cheating, in the variety of forms they come, including the use of performance enhancement drugs is also discussed, arguing that one cannot be said to be participating in the same sport as a competitor if the rules are not followed. Simon's case against doping is the book's high point. The intentional hurt aspect of Boxing is not something he seems comfortable with. Although his objections to Boxing is a little weak, it is a different case if the same logic is applied with the increasingly popular MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) where the level of intentional, hurtful violence is ratcheted up.
Where it fails is in the examples the author gives, which are mostly American (Football), there's even a whole chapter on intercollegiate sports which is not at all relevant to anyone outside of America, although some Truths can be gleaned from this, especially his treatment of the issue of when Colleges exploit minority Athletes at the expense of their (the Athlete's) academic achievement.
The final chapter on the social responsibility of sports stars comes to an inconclusive end, as we are left to figure out for ourselves if the public are right to demand morally upright sports stars. In the famous words of the Basketball player, Charles Barkley "I'm not a role model... Just because I dunk a basketball doesn't mean I should raise your kids". Or for a more culturally relevant example, should Ched Evans be allowed to Football (Soccer) again?
Not a book I'll recommend, although it seems to be popular as it is already on its 4th edition, I bought the 2nd because it was cheaper. It is however quite good as a starting point for thinking about the philosophy of sports.
October 9, 2015
Every philosophy textbook is a compromise of sorts. Is it better to have a short and readable volume that does not do full justice to the complexity of the issues discussed or to have a long, complicated, and comprehensive book that may go over the heads of many students and leave little time for additional assigned readings in a course? Is it better to offer a bland but balanced discussion of the topics or to give a spirited but partisan overview?
This book generally favors breadth over depth and balance over partisanship, although the authors do advance some tentative conclusions. The advantages of this approach is that a professor can assign the entire book and still have time for plenty of supplementary readings, the book covers all of the major topics in the field of sports ethics clearly and accurately, and the reader is given space to formulate his or her own conclusions.
Although I sometimes wish the book went a little deeper into the topics, my overall assessment is that this is one of the best textbook options for a sports ethics course or for a curious reader who wants a good introduction to the field.
This book generally favors breadth over depth and balance over partisanship, although the authors do advance some tentative conclusions. The advantages of this approach is that a professor can assign the entire book and still have time for plenty of supplementary readings, the book covers all of the major topics in the field of sports ethics clearly and accurately, and the reader is given space to formulate his or her own conclusions.
Although I sometimes wish the book went a little deeper into the topics, my overall assessment is that this is one of the best textbook options for a sports ethics course or for a curious reader who wants a good introduction to the field.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews