1st Edition
Philosophy, Sport and the Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on every aspect of our social, cultural, and commercial lives, including the world of sport. This book examines the ethical and philosophical dimensions of the intersection of COVID-19 and sport.
The book goes beyond simple description of the impact of the pandemic on sport to offer normative judgments on how the sporting world responded to challenges posed by COVID-19, as well as philosophical speculation as to how COVID-19 will change our understanding and appreciation of sport in the long term. It examines the considerations that either influenced—or arguably should have influenced—decisions to continue or to resume the playing of organized sport in the midst of a pandemic. As a part of this analysis, a spotlight is shone on how sport intersected with political issues surrounding COVID-19. It also explores the configuration and meaning of sport in the COVID-19 era, touching on themes such as the nature of sport and its integrity and sport’s relationship to technology. Other themes include the changed nature of spectatorship, suffering in sport during pandemic times, and the impact of COVID-19 on the Olympic and Paralympic Games. A final chapter looks ahead and asks what sport might look like in a post-COVID world.
This is fascinating reading for anybody with an interest in the ethics and philosophy of sport, the sociology of sport, event studies, politics, or public health.
Introduction
Jeffrey P. Fry and Andrew Edgar
Part I: To Play or Not to Play…
1 High School Sport, COVID-19, Paternalism, and Harm to Others
Nicholas Dixon
2 Autonomy, Paternalism, and the Dilemmas of Pandemic Sport
Andrew Fiala
3 Big Ten Football's Decision to Reinstate its Season: How to Run the Reverse
Chad Carlson
4 COVID-19 Unmasks the NCAA’s Collegiate Model Myth
Alex Wolf-Root
5 Black Bodies, Dueling Pandemics, and the Hidden Rules for White Profit in the NBA: Do Black Lives Really Matter?
LaToya T. Brackett and Conrad Webster
6 COVID-19, Sport, and Ethics: The Case of the Australian Open 2021
Dennis Hemphill
7 COVID-19, Risk, and Nature Sports: Pandemic Dilemmas
Kevin Krein
8 Sport, COVID-19, and Acceptable Risk
Jeffrey P. Fry
Part II: Sport Today and Tomorrow
9 Watching Sport During COVID-19
Emily Ryall and Andrew Edgar
10 COVID-19 and the Integrity of Football
Jake Wojtowicz
11 COVID-19 and How Best to Complete the 2019-20 Football Season
Meilyr Jones and Alun Hardman
12 The Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Fairness and Fair Play for Olympic Athletes Training for the Tokyo Olympic Games
Angela Schneider and Marwan Hellal
13 Ascetic Cycling and Meaningful Suffering in Pandemic Times: Happy Sisyphus
Ron Welters
14 COVID-19, Lip Gloss, and the Threat to Women's Sport
Paul Davis and Charlene Weaving
15 What a Pandemic Might Teach Us About Using Animals for Sport
S.P. Morris and Gabriela Tymowski-Gionet
16 Rethinking Sport Ethics in a Complex Post-Pandemic World
Tim L. Elcombe and Douglas Hochstetler
Coda
Jeffrey P. Fry and Andrew Edgar
Biography
Jeffrey P. Fry is Professor of Philosophy at Ball State University, United States.
Andrew Edgar is Emeritus Reader in the School of English, Communication and Philosophy at Cardiff University, UK, and Honorary Faculty Member in the School of Sport and Exercise Science at Swansea University, UK.