Gamesmanship

Journal of the Philosophy of Sport 31 (2):212-225 (2004)
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Abstract

“What are you prepared to do to win?” This is a question that any serious competitor will at one time or another have to consider. The answer that one is inclined to make, I shall argue, is revealing of the deeper character of the individual participant in sport as both physical competitor and moral person. To that end, I examine one of the classic responses to the question, gamesmanship, which can be characterised as an attempt to win one game by playing another. I contend that gamesmanship is a deliberate strategy of competition that has certain paradoxical outcomes; while it may produce an enhanced competitive environment that calls forth superior performances from participants, its more aggravated manifestations are in the long term athletically self-destructive for those who rely on them as a competitive device, and argue the presence of more profound underlying moral failings as well.

Other Versions

reprint Howe, Leslie A. (2007) "Gamesmanship". In Morgan, William John, Ethics in Sport, pp. : Human Kinetics (2007)
reprint Howe, Leslie A. (2018) "Gamesmanship". In Morgan, William John, Ethics in sport, pp. : Human Kinetics (2018)

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Leslie A. Howe
University of Saskatchewan

Citations of this work

Trash talking, respect for opponents and good competition.Nicholas Dixon - 2007 - Sport, Ethics and Philosophy 1 (1):96 – 106.
Formalism and strategic fouls.Eric Moore - 2017 - Journal of the Philosophy of Sport 44 (1):95-107.
Sport as meaningful narratives.John Gleaves - 2017 - Journal of the Philosophy of Sport 44 (1):29-43.
Sportsmanship.Diana Abad - 2010 - Sport, Ethics and Philosophy 4 (1):27 – 41.

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References found in this work

The Grasshopper: Games, Life and Utopia.Bernard Suits & Thomas Hurka - 1978 - Peterborough, CA: Broadview Press.
Fair Play as Respect for the Game.Robert Butcher & Angela Schneider - 1998 - Journal of the Philosophy of Sport 25 (1):1-22.
Sportsmanship.Randolph M. Feezell - 1986 - Journal of the Philosophy of Sport 13 (1):1-13.
On Sportsmanship and “Running Up the Score”.Nicholas Dixon - 1992 - Journal of the Philosophy of Sport 19 (1):1-13.

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