Athletics and the Philosophical Life
Joshua Landy

24 August 2018
把体育运动和哲学联系在一起的想法乍听起来可能很奇怪，但这仅仅是因为我们过于依赖这两者的现代观念吗?
Think back, first, to a time before commercialism took over sports in a big way, and amateurism was more the norm. (That’s not to say, of course, that there was ever a golden age: the very first piece of literature in the “West,” Homer’sIliad, already talks about a guy cheating in a chariot race! And doing so for—what else?—fame and fortune.)
其次，回想一下哲学被许多人视为一种生活方式的时代，而不仅仅是一套信仰。一旦我们以这种方式看待哲学，那么就不难想象——就像许多古代作家所做的那样——体育训练可以培养我们一生所需的技能，无论是在赛场上还是赛场外。
On this view, sports don’t just contribute to our physical health; they also make us better people. We become more disciplined and better equipped to deal with failure; we gain habits of focus, determination, and co-operation; and we learn to value fairness. (Where I come from, the phrase “that’s not cricket” means “that’s not fair”: at least one sport is officially all about even-handedness.)
What’s more, athletic training is a school for self-knowledge. Every time we train, and every time we step onto the field, we learn something about our limits and our potentials. Athletics give us vital information about who are; they are nothing short of a confrontation with the self.
Maybe that’s why professional sports produces great individuals like Serena Williams and Lebron James, people whose sporting prowess is coupled with a clear and powerful determination to make the world a better place. We might also think of those who have the courage to speak up for justice, even at the cost of their own careers. Excellent role models like these should really make us take very seriously, once again, the ancient idea that athletics are good for the soul.
不过，并不是(麦迪逊广场)花园里的一切都是玫瑰色的。不幸的是，当运动训练做得太过火时，就像现在经常发生的那样，会导致严重的伤害。令人难以置信的是，学生们现在接受了汤米·约翰手术，以前只有大联盟投手才能接受。而那些玩美式足球的人，甚至只是练习美式足球的人，即使没有脑震荡，他们的大脑也会受到终生的损伤。
And it might perhaps be argued that every spiritual benefit of sports has a negative counterpart. The sense of honor can easily flip over into narcissism; a focus on sports can mean a loss of focus on other things, such as studies; for every positive role model, like Lebron and Serena, there is a John Rocker, a Michael Vick, or a Tonya Harding; and that healthy team spirit can be accompanied by a disdain—at best—for the opposing team and its fans. (One NFL team was even caught offering bonuses for players who injured the opposing quarterback.) Plus, needless to say, fairness is hardly ubiquitous in sport. Think of all those steroid-taking baseball players, diving soccer players, and ball-deflating quarterbacks…
我不知道如何解决这样困难的问题，但我愿意认为并非一无是处:我仍然认为，只要我们保持头脑清醒，我们可以从体育运动中获得很多。就我而言，我将继续每周和我的朋友们踢一次球，在电视上观看我心爱的利物浦比赛。在这个过程中，我希望我能继续了解自己，并加强我对公平的热爱，而不是成为一个跳水、专一、轻蔑的自恋者——或者弄伤我的膝盖。

Comments(4)

Harold G. Neuman's picture

Harold G. Neuman

Monday, August 27, 2018 -- 10:52 AM

The answer to your first

The answer to your first question is: yes. All the way back to early Greece and Rome, the mind-body connection was recognized as an inseparable part of lives well lived. Another example of this follows the martial arts regimen of Kung-Fu masters and others seemingly capable of almost super-human feats. All of this was geared towards integration of mind and body (the cheesy martial arts movies we may have grown up with were entertaining, but mostly mindlessly so).
在我看来，把现代高薪的“运动员”哲学称为滑稽的行为，充其量是不合时宜的。良心上的拒绝(见罗尔斯)可能更好，但这更多是政治上的异议，而不是哲学上的表达。如果这还不能让事情明朗一点，我很遗憾。这意味着，要么是读者过于依赖现代思想;太受大众文化的影响;或者对政治和哲学在哪里分道扬镳没有明确的概念。

Harold G. Neuman's picture

Harold G. Neuman

Tuesday, September 4, 2018 -- 12:07 PM

Well. I stand corrected: 166

Well. I stand corrected: 166.7% IS possible. Colin Kapernick (sp?) is working for Nike and has received support from the likes of Serena Williams. All of that after losing his football job and becoming a free agent. Conservatives are livid. And, I imagine our presidente is losing some sleep over the whole matter, while others are gleefully cracking new jokes and Colin is laughing, all the way to the bank. On page 568 of John Rawls' book, A Theory of Justice, he assesses the mutually exclusive nature of the egoist vs, the 'just man'. It is poignant rebuke---one supporters of egoists generally might profit from. Is Trump the egoist, while Colin is the 'just man'? Decide for yourselves. Deliberative rationality is not yet dead.

Harold G. Neuman's picture

Harold G. Neuman

Wednesday, September 12, 2018 -- 3:25 PM

Tried to say something more

Tried to say something more about Laura's 2015 (?) post on perception, etc. Seems my comments were not registered. Perhaps no one's will be. Here it is then, succinctly and applicable to many aspects of our amazingly modern world. You may quote me, if you wish. (I've got a million of em'): WE KNOW WHAT WE ARE TAUGHT; WE ARE WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED. Pretty simple. 2015 was a long time ago. Just saying ... (emphasis could be added on 'know', 'taught', 'are', and 'learned'.---I don't know how to do that.)

Laura Maguire's picture

Laura Maguire

Thursday, September 13, 2018 -- 7:36 AM

The comments section was

那个博客的评论区因为某些原因被关闭了，但是他们又被打开了，所以如果你愿意，你可以在那里添加你的评论。谢谢你让我们知道这个问题!

Tags