Category Archives: Examined Sport

January 2, 2023 · 8:00 am

Examined Sport: Nicholas Dixon “On Winning and Athletic Superiority”

In this episode of Examined Sport, I look at Nicholas Dixon’s article: “On Winning and Athletic Superiority.” Published in the Journal of the Philosophy of Sport in 1999, this article examines the relationship between winning and athletic superiority. Dixon also explores whether playoffs are an effective way to determine athletic superiority.

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Related Links and Information:

Nicholas Dixon, “On Winning and Athletic Superiority” Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, vol. 26, 1999, pp 10-26.

Opening and Closing Musical Credits:

“Slow Ska Game Loop” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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Filed under Cheating, Examined Sport, gamesmanship, Philosophy, podcast

August 24, 2022 · 6:07 pm

Examined Sport: Leslie Howe “Gamesmanship”

In this episode of Examined Sport, I examine Leslie Howe’s “Gamesmanship.” Published in the Journal of the Philosophy of Sport in 2004, this article quickly became a classic, the go-to article on the topic of gamesmanship. In the article, Howe defines the concept of gamesmanship and analyses the ethical dimensions of gamesmanship in sport.

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Related Links and Information:

Leslie A. Howe, “Gamesmanship” Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, vol. 31, 2004, pp 212-225.

Opening and Closing Musical Credits:

“Slow Ska Game Loop” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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Filed under Examined Sport, gamesmanship, podcast

February 21, 2022 · 5:54 pm

Examined Sport: Cesar Torres and Peter Hagar, “The Desirability of the Season Long Tournament: A Response to Finn”

In this episode of Examined Sport, I look at Cesar Torres and Peter Hager’s article: “The Desirability of the Season Long Tournament: A Response to Finn.” Published in the Journal of the Philosophy of Sport in 2011, this article, as the title suggests, is Torres and Hager’s response to Stephen Finn’s “In Defense of the Playoff System.” While Finn defended a playoff system, in their article, Torres and Hager challenge that defense and offer arguments for superiority of the season-long tournament model over the playoff system.

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Related Links and Information:

Examined Sport: Stephen Finn, In Defense of the Playoff System”
Cesar Torres and Peter Hagar, “The Desirability of the Season Long Tournament: A Response to Finn.”
Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, Vol. 38, pp 39-54.
Stephen Finn, “In Defense of the Playoff System” Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, vol. 36, 2009, pp 66-75.

Opening and Closing Musical Credits:

“Slow Ska Game Loop” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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Filed under Examined Sport, playoffs, podcast

August 29, 2021 · 9:39 pm

Examined Sport: Stephen Finn, “In Defense of the Playoff System”

In this episode of Examined Sport, I look at Stephen Finn’s article “In Defense of the Playoff System” (Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, 2009). In this article, Finn sets out first to challenge critiques of the playoff system from Nicholas Dixon and William Morgan, and then to offer his positive defense of the playoff system.

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Related Links and Information:

Stephen Finn, “In Defense of the Playoff System” Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, vol. 36, 2009, pp 66-75.

Opening and Closing Musical Credits:

“Slow Ska Game Loop” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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Filed under Examined Sport, playoffs, podcast

August 14, 2021 · 8:18 pm

Examined Sport: Pam Sailors, “Mixed Competition and Mixed Messages”

In this episode of Examined Sport, I look at Pam Sailors’ “Mixed Competition and Mixed Messages.” Sailors takes up the question of sex segregation in sport by critiquing Jane English’s 1978 “Sex Equality in Sport”. Sailors then discusses how to deal with the complexity of gender in sport and how best to structure competitions.

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Related Links and Information:

Pam Sailors, “Mixed Competition and Mixed Messages,” Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, vol. 41, 2014, pp 65-70.
Jane English, “Sex Equality in Sports,” Philosophy & Public Affairs, Vol. 7, No. 3 (Spring, 1978), pp. 269-277
Examined Sport: Jane English, “Sex Equality in Sports”

Opening and Closing Musical Credits:

“Slow Ska Game Loop” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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Filed under competition, Examined Sport, podcast, Women's Sports

July 30, 2021 · 12:34 pm

Examined Sport: Jane English, “Sex Equality in Sports”

In this episode of Examined Sport, I look at Jane English’s “Sex Equality in Sports,” published in Philosophy and Public Affairs in 1978. In this classic and influential paper, English examines what equal opportunity for women in sports means and what it implies.

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Related Links and Information:

Jane English, “Sex Equality in Sports,” Philosophy & Public Affairs, Vol. 7, No. 3 (Spring, 1978), pp. 269-277

Opening and Closing Musical Credits:

“Slow Ska Game Loop” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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Filed under Examined Sport, podcast, Sports Ethics, Women's Sports

July 16, 2021 · 4:34 pm

Examined Sport: Nicholas Dixon, “A Moral Critique of Mixed Martial Arts”

In this episode of Examined Sport, I discuss Nicholas Dixon’s “A Moral Critique of Mixed Martial Arts” published in Public Affairs Quarterly in 2015. This paper is one of the first philosophical analyses of the sport of MMA.

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Related Links and Information:

Nicholas Dixon, “A Moral Critique of Mixed Martial Arts,” Public Affairs Quarterly, Vol. 29, No. 4, October 2015 pp 365-384.
Examined Sport: Episode 15: “Nicholas Dixon, Boxing, Paternalism, and Legal Moralism”

Opening and Closing Musical Credits:

“Slow Ska Game Loop” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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Filed under Examined Sport, MMA, podcast

June 19, 2021 · 12:25 pm

Examined Sport: Nicholas Dixon, “Boxing, Paternalism, and Legal Moralism”

In this episode of Examined Sport, I discuss Nicholas Dixon’s “Boxing, Paternalism, and Legal Moralism” published in Social Theory and Practice in April 2001. While Dixon is not the first to address moral questions about the sport of boxing, this paper is important because Dixon focuses on what he calls pre-emptive paternalism as the basis for restrictions on boxing. This conception of paternalism has since been influential in the philosophy of sport on a wide range of issues from doping to banning of American football.

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Related Links and Information:

Nicholas Dixon, “Boxing, Paternalism, and Legal Moralism” Social Theory and Practice, Vol 27, No 2, April 2001, pp 323-334.

Opening and Closing Musical Credits:

“Slow Ska Game Loop” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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Filed under Boxing, Examined Sport, Philosophy, podcast, Sports Studies

August 28, 2018 · 1:05 pm

Examined Sport: Randolph Feezell, “Sportsmanship and Blowouts”

In this episode of Examined Sport, I look at Randolph Feezell’s “Sportsmanship and Blowouts: Baseball and Beyond.” Published in the Journal of the Philosophy of Sport in 1999, Feezell responds to Nicholas Dixon’s paper on blowouts that was the subject of a previous episode of Examined Sport. Feezell proposes what he calls the Revised Anti-Blowout thesis to better explain the ethics of blowouts.

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Related Links and Information:

Randolph Feezell, “Sportsmanship and Blowouts: Baseball and Beyond,”Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, Vol. 26, 1999, pp 68-79.
Nicholas Dixon, “On Sportsmanship and Running up the Score,” Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, Vol. 19, 1992, pp 1-13.
Examined Sport Episode: Nicholas Dixon, “On Sportsmanship and Running up the Score”
Examined Sport Episode: Randolph Feezell, “Sportsmanship”

Opening and Closing Musical Credits:

“Slow Ska Game Loop” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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Filed under Examined Sport, podcast, sportsmanship

August 14, 2018 · 2:59 pm

Examined Sport: Nicholas Dixon, “On Sportsmanship and Running Up the Score”

Published in the Journal of the Philosophy of Sport in 1992, Nicholas Dixon’s paper: “On Sportsmanship and Running up the Score” spurred a discussion on the ethics of wide-margin victories in sport. Dixon argues against what he calls the Anti-Blowout Thesis. Blowouts are not, on his view, always or necessarily unsporting.

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Related Links and Information:

Nicholas Dixon, “On Sportsmanship and Running up the Score,” Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, Vol. 19, 1992, pp 1-13.
Examined Sport Episode: James Keating, “Sportsmanship as a Moral Category”
Examined Sport Episode: Randolph Feezell, “Sportsmanship”
Examined Sport Episode: Peter Arnold, “Three Approaches toward an Understanding of Sportsmanship”

Opening and Closing Musical Credits:

“Slow Ska Game Loop” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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Filed under Examined Sport, podcast, sportsmanship