God, Sport Philosophy, Kinesiology: A MacIntyrean Examination

Twietmeyer, Gregg

doi:10.1080/00336297.2015.1017587

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…The picture of the world assumed by the materialist physicist is of atoms and void there can be no cosmos, but only infinite emptiness, no life but only the accidental rearrangement of matter. [3] (p. 17) In contrast, Aristotle viewed nature in a non-derivative sense. He thought that things possess natures of their own.…”

Section: Refuting Materialistic Accounts Of Naturementioning

confidence: 99%

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The Necessity of Philosophy in the Exercise Sciences

Hickson

2019

Philosophies

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The pervasive and often uncritical acceptance of materialistic philosophical commitments within exercise science is deeply problematic. This commitment to materialism is wrong for several reasons. Among the most important are that it ushers in fallacious metaphysical assumptions regarding the nature of causation and the nature of human beings. These mistaken philosophical commitments are key because the belief that only matter is real severely impedes the exercise scientist’s ability to accurately understand or deal with human beings, whether as subjects of study or as data points to be interpreted. One example of materialist metaphysics is the assertion that all causation is physical- one lever moving another lever, one atom striking another atom, one brain state leading to another (Kretchmer, 2005). In such a world, human life is reduced to action and reaction, stimulus and response and as a result, the human being disappears. As such, a deterministic philosophy is detrimental to kinesiologists’ attempts to interpret and understand human behavior, for a materialistic philosophy, must ignore or explain away human motivation, human freedom and ultimately culture itself. In showing how mistaken these philosophic commitments are, I will focus on the sub-discipline of sport psychology for most examples, as that is the field of exercise science of which I am paradigmatically most familiar. It is also the field, when rightly understood that straddles the “two cultures” in kinesiology (i.e., the sciences and the humanities). In referencing the dangers of the materialistic conception of human beings for sport psychology, I will propose, that the materialist’s account of the natural world, causation and human beings stems from the unjustified and unnecessary rejection by the founders of modern science of the Aristotelian picture of the world (Feser, 2012). One reason that this mechanistic point of view, concerning human reality has gained ground in kinesiology is as a result of a previous philosophic commitment to quantification. As philosopher Doug Anderson (2002) has pointed out, many kinesiologists believe that shifting the discipline in the direction of mathematics and science would result in enhanced academic credibility. Moreover, given the dominance of the scientific narrative in our culture it makes it very difficult for us not to conform to it. That is, as Twietmeyer (2015) argued, kinesiologists do not just reject non-materialistic philosophic conceptions of the field, we are oblivious to their possibility. Therefore, I will propose two things; first, Aristotelian philosophy is a viable alternative to materialistic accounts of nature and causation and second, that Aristotle’s holistic anthropology is an important way to wake kinesiologists from their self-imposed philosophic slumber.

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Section: Refuting Materialistic Accounts Of Naturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Yet, ironically this is due to exercise scientists' commitments to philosophical materialism. Kinesiologist are often oblivious to non-materialistic conceptions of the field (Twietmeyer, 2015 [17]). The belief of the materialist in mathematics proves the exact opposite of what many materialists think.…”

Section: (P 18)mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Necessity of Philosophy in the Exercise Sciences

Hickson

2019

Philosophies

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“…However, the analytical school of philosophy soon became the dominant approach within the discipline and the Journal of the Philosophy of Sport. In short, ethics became divorced from metaphysics in the majority of analyses of sport (see Twietmeyer, 2015).…”

Section: Theological Reflection On Sports: a Brief Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In short, ethics became divorced from metaphysics in the majority of analyses of sport. 13 Encouragingly, the Journal of the Philosophy of Sport and the more recent journal Sport, Ethics and Philosophy now publish significantly more work on sports and religion/Christianity. In addition to these writings, Protestant and Catholic theologians have examined a wide range of issues in sporting locales, and this is documented in a now burgeoning literature.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New directions in theology, church and sports: A brief overview and position statement

Watson

2018

Theology

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There has been a significant increase of scholarship, empirical research (within both theology and the social sciences) and church based initiatives focussed on sport and Christianity during the last decade. This essay seeks to briefly map these developments and provide a position statement by way of addressing two topics: (i) theological reflection on sport, and (ii) church and para-church engagement in sport. In conclusion, a number of recommendations are provided for future research and ecclesiological praxis.

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“…It is hoped that future research could examine the triadic relationship between sport-religion-dementia from alternative religious and cultural perspectives. The aims of the present study are: (a) to examine the role of sport from a theological perspective in the care and treatment of individuals with dementia, through an examination of the sport-dementia organisation, Sporting Memories Network (SMN), and (b) to contribute to the emerging body of research surrounding sport and theology (see Hoffman, 1999;Twietemeyer, 2015aTwietemeyer, ,b, 2008, and sport, theology, and illness. Our first task is to provide an overview of sport-based research and practical initiatives that address dementia.…”

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confidence: 99%