Categories of Competition

Sport, Ethics and Philosophy 5 (4):433 - 446 (2011)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

In the first part of this paper, I argue that philosophers of sport have mistakenly privileged a specific psychology and purpose in their definitions of competition. The result of this mistake has been that philosophers of sport make generalisations about competition as such which in fact only hold for some competitions. In the second and third parts of the paper, I articulate an alternative approach: rather than search for a single psychology and purpose that underlies all competition, I argue that we should begin by acknowledging four distinctly different competitive formats, and only then enquire as to which psychologies and purposes are more or less appropriate to each format. This method allows us to capture the richness and diversity of competition, and helps to ensure that we do not confuse part and whole when defining it

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,221

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Analytics

Added to PP
2011-12-09

Downloads
142 (#120,779)

6 months
5 (#244,107)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Steven Skultety
University of Mississippi

Citations of this work

Adversariality and Argumentation.John Casey - 2020 - Informal Logic 40 (1):77-108.
The Nature and Meaning of Teamwork.Paul Gaffney - 2015 - Journal of the Philosophy of Sport 42 (1):1-22.
A discussion of Kretchmar’s elements of competition.Richard Royce - 2017 - Sport, Ethics and Philosophy 11 (2):178-191.
Response to Commentators.Paul Gaffney - 2015 - Journal of the Philosophy of Sport 42 (1):71-82.

View all 7 citations / Add more citations

References found in this work

Some reflections on success and failure in competitive athletics.Edwin J. Delattre - 1975 - Journal of the Philosophy of Sport 2 (1):133-139.
Indigestion?: An Apology for Ties.Cesar R. Torres & Douglas W. McLaughlin - 2003 - Journal of the Philosophy of Sport 30 (2):144-158.

Add more references