Subverting the rules in sport
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22456/1982-8918.143364Keywords:
Sport, Ethics, Sportspersonship, Sport RulesAbstract
What does it mean to subvert the rules in sport? One way of doing so is to interfere with or curb the display of skill of your opponent by a) breaking the rules deliberately and openly or b) by acting contrary to the idea of sportspersonship. In both instances you violate the norm that displaying/exercising your game-related skills is central for a good contest. In the former you incorporate the penalty rules into the playing rules, i.e. you act as if breaking the rules is part of playing the game. In the latter you adopt a (new) strategy which curbs the display of skill by your opponent, a strategy about which the rules are silent. The motivation for such acts is not to make the game better, but to ensure a win. In this paper I illustrate and analyse such rule subversion, with some reflections on game rules and the good contest.Downloads
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