1st Edition
Reflections on Play, Sport, and Culture Introduction to the Play Field Theory
Part I: The idea of play
Chapter 1: “Slow-moving” Philosophy of Play
Usefulness of Play before Philosophical Comprehension
First Steps Toward Philosophy: Functionalism as a Key for Explanations of Human Play
Bibliography
Chapter 2: Principal Definability of Play
Introduction
Play, Games, and Sports in the English Language (a Cultural-anthropological View)
Reflection of Human Play in Different Languages in the 20th and 21st Centuries
The Wittgensteinian Obstacle
Bibliography
Chapter 3: Definition of Play as Escape
Introduction
Qualitative Content Analysis of Philosophical Ideas about Human Play
Discussion
Bibliography
Chapter 4: Sport is Play Too
Introduction
The Diversity of the Concept of Sport in English Cultural Tradition
Is Physical Activity Necessary and Sufficient for a Definition of Sport?
Sport as Play and Game
Officialization and Unproductiveness as Necessary Characteristics of Sport
Bibliography
Part II: “Contemplation” of Play and Games Playing
Introduction to Part II
Chapter 5: Games’ Typologies
Common and Unique in Games Humans Play
Typologies of Games by Aims and Forms of Playing
Three-measure Taxonomy of Games and Sports
Bibliography
Chapter 6: Ways Moving from Games to Sports
Introduction
Crystallization
Inventing Games by Developing and Adopting Original Ideas
“Natural selection”
Bibliography
Chapter 7: Key Characteristics of an Invasive Game
Mutually Active Conflict between Sides
"Perturbation" and a Personal Space-time in Invasive Games
Bibliography
Part III: Play and Society
Introduction to Part III
Chapter 8. Social Person in Play
Introduction
"Being There": Kinds of Human Play in Different Behavioral Environments
Personal vs. Individual Play
Emergent Indeterminacy: Hidden Flows of Small Groups Playing
Wanted Suspense: Large Groups Playing
Conclusions
Bibliography
Chapter 9. Masses in Play
Introduction
Play and Social Communication in Ancient Sacral Ritual
Play in Sacral Mysteries
Festival vs. Carnival Play in the Grandstands
Summary
Bibliography
Chapter 10. Sports Spectators and Fans in Play
Accepted Typologies of Sport Spectators
New Typology of Sport Spectators as “players”: Empirical Research
Appendix: Questionnaire for Spectators and Fans
Bibliography
Chapter 11: Professional Sport in Symbiosis with Fans
Introduction
From play to Meta-sport
Dialectics in the Transformations of Professional Sport
Bibliography
Afterword: Introduction to the Play Field Theory (PFT)
Biography
Felix Lebed, Ph.D., is Head of the M.Ed. degree program in the Physical Education Department at Kaye Academic College of Education, Israel.
