The purposes of the paper are to clarify 1) how ‘sports’ came to be recognized as object of scientific study in the course of its development, and 2) what led to this situation.
Methodologically, while basing our inquiry on the “play theory” that is the foundation of sports culture, we examined how the progressive thought that arose due to the cause-effect mechanistic perspective that developed in the modern era from the cycles philosophy of the organismic teleology of Aristotle left its mark on sports.
As a result, it was made clear that, when viewed from the link to sports science, the “formulation” of sports resulted in the preparation of “quantification” and “standardization” in the execution of sports, making possible the consideration of sports from an “objective perspective.” This can be thought of as having deepened the link with the scientism that was methodologically put together using the cause-effect mechanistic perspective that arose in the modern era. Also, it can be said that as a result of this, only the “inevitability” for a chancedenying “desire for invincibility” has become to be required as a sports science theory.
It can also be said that this elimination of “chance,” even given the state of sports from the past, is an opportunity for the transformation of sports by eliminating its “play nature.”