Conference: Soccer as the Beautiful Game

HOFSTRA CULTURAL CENTER
and the
HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY
present

An International Conference

Soccer as the Beautiful Game:
Football's Artistry, Identity and Politics

Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday
April 10, 11, 12, 13, 2014

In anticipation of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Hofstra University is proud to host an international conference that explores the historical, political, economic and humanitarian impact of soccer – including the awarding of an honorary degree to soccer legend Pelé. Over the past 20 years, the study of sport has become a well-developed subfield of many disciplines. Soccer's meteoric rise in popularity during the 20th century continues to fascinate scholars around the world.

For more details, go here: http://www.hofstra.edu/Community/culctr/culctr_events_soccer_conf.html

More on Diving in Soccer

Cesar Torres, editor of the recently published Bloomsbury Companion to the Philosophy of Sport, has a very nice piece on diving in soccer, from a few years back, which is well worth the read. Here's an excerpt:

"It is logically contradictory to simultaneously accept the rules of soccer and to circumvent them when opportunities arise. Strictly speaking, this is the case with of all forms of cheating: intentionally breaking the rules surreptitiously to gain an advantage that would not probably be obtained otherwise. Divers, then, excuse themselves from following the rules and treat opponents simply as means to their own ends while avoiding the game’s core objective."

Still Another Book: Philosophy, Sport and Education: International Perspectives

Philosophy,Sport and Education: International Perspectives

Contents

Introduction

Emanuele Isidori, Francisco Javier López Frías, Arno Müller 7

Sport, Education and Peace

Lev Kreft 13

Sport, Education, and the Meaning of Victory

Heather L. Reid 33

Sport and the Quest for Meaningful and Lifelong Learning

Jesús Ilundáin-Agurruza 43

Agonistic Education and Sports: A Philosophical Approach

Yunus Tuncel 71

Giving Formalism a Fair Trial through Pedagogy

Francisco Javier López Frías 89

Derrida’s Concept about Doping and its Implications for Sport Education

Emanuele Isidori 103

What Can Doping in Sport Teach Students about Ethics

John Gleaves 119

Contributors 127

And another book... The Bloomsbury Companion to the Philosophy of Sport

Introduction, Cesar R. Torres

Part I: History and Development

• A History of Philosophic Ideas about Sport, David Lunt and Mark Dyreson

Part II: Research Methodology

• The Philosophy of Sport and Analytic Philosophy, Scott Kretchmar
• The Philosophy of Sport and Continental Philosophy, Vegard Fusche Moe
• The Philosophy of Sport, Eastern Philosophy and Pragmatism, Jesús Ilundáin-Agurruza, Koyo Fukasawa and Mizuho Takemura

Part III: Current Research and Key Issues

• Theories of Sport, Robert L. Simon
• Fairness and Justice in Sport, Sigmund Loland
• The Ethics of Enhancing Performance, Sarah Teetzel
• Disability and Sport, Carwyn Jones
• Sport, Risk and Danger, Leslie A. Howe
• Sport and the Environment–Ecosophical and Metanoetical Intersections, Ron Welters
• The Aesthetics of Sport, Stephen Mumford
• Sporting Knowledge, Gunnar Breivik
• Sport and Ideology, Lamartine P. DaCosta
• Competitive Sport, Moral Development and Peace, J. S. Russell
• Sport, Spirituality and Religion,Simon Robinson
• Sport and Violence, Danny Rosenberg

Part IV: Future Developments

• Sport and Technological Development, Alun Hardman
• Conceivable Horizons of Equality in Sport, Pam R. Sailors
• ‘Spoiled Sports’: Markets and the Corruption of Sport,William J. Morgan
• Sport Philosophy around the World, Peter M. Hopsicker and IvoJirásek

Part V: Glossary of Key Terms and Concepts

Part VI: Resources and Careers

• Resource Guide, Emily Ryall
• Careers, Charlene Weaving

Part VII: The Literature

• The Sport Philosophy Literature: Foundations, Evolutions and Annotations, Tim Elcombe, Douglas Hochstetler and Douglas W. McLaughlin

Diving in Soccer

I have just posted a piece on diving over at my blog, Ethics for Everyone, which may be of interest to many followers of this blog. In it, I argue that diving is wrong because it is an especially egregious form of cheating, conflicts directly with the value of sportsmanship, and undermines the pursuit of an honorable victory.To see the whole article, go here.

Philosophy and Sport: New Publication

Every year, the Royal Institute of Philosophy offers a lecture series in London on a particular topic. In 2012-2013, the focus was philosophy and sport. These lectures are now available, published by Cambridge University Press (here and here).

Table of Contents:

• Preface, Anthony O'Hear
• Ways of Watching Sport, Stephen Mumford
• The Martial Arts and Buddhist Philosophy, Graham Priest
• Sport as a Moral Practice: An Aristotelian Approach, Michael W. Austin
• A Plea for Risk, Philip Ebert and Simon Robertson
• Not a Matter of Life and Death?, Anthony O'Hear
• Sport and Life, Paul Snowdon
• Glory in Sport (and Elsewhere), Timothy Chappell
• Conceptual Problems with Performance Enhancing Technology in Sport, Emily Ryall
• Is Mountaineering a Sport?, Philip Bartlett
• Rivalry in Cricket and Beyond: Healthy or Unhealthy?, Michael Brearley
• In the Zone, David Papineau
• Olympic Sacrifice: A Modern Look at an Ancient Tradition, Heather L. Reid
• Chess, Imagination, and Perceptual Understanding, Paul Coates

From Yoga to Powerlifting

This article by Georgetown's Rebecca Kukla provides much food for thought on the transformational power of physical activity. Along the way, it illustrates how philosophical issues arise within the practice of sport.