Challenges, Achievements, and Uncertainties: The Philosophy of Sport Since the 1980s

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R. Scott Kretchmar
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Cesar R. Torres
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The philosophy of sport has flourished in some ways and struggled in others since the publication of George Brooks’s anthology Perspectives on the Academic Discipline of Physical Education: A Tribute to G. Lawrence Rarick in 1981. In this article, the authors trace challenges faced by the philosophy of sport, discuss trends and hot topics, analyze opportunities for integrations with other subdisciplines, and speculate on the current issues in and the future of the philosophy of sport. While they conclude that the philosophy of sport’s prospect within kinesiology is uncertain and that it has work to do, they also conclude that this subdiscipline is uniquely positioned to provide kinesiology with the clarity and unity of purpose it needs.

Kretchmar (rsk1@psu.edu) is with the Dept. of Kinesiology, Penn State University, University Park, PA, USA. Torres (crtorres@brockport.edu) is with the Dept. of Kinesiology, Sport Studies, and Physical Education, SUNY Brockport, Brockport, NY, USA

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