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Elements of excellence

John William Devine Orcid Logo

Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, Volume: 49, Issue: 2, Pages: 195 - 211

Swansea University Author: John William Devine Orcid Logo

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Abstract

‘Excellence’ underpins debates within sports ethics from the nature of sport to the permissibility of doping. Despite the central role that excellence occupies in ethical reasoning about sport, it has garnered more support than scrutiny in the literature. Little has been said about how this value ca...

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Published in: Journal of the Philosophy of Sport
ISSN: 0094-8705 1543-2939
Published: Informa UK Limited 2022
Online Access: Check full text

URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa59779
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Abstract: ‘Excellence’ underpins debates within sports ethics from the nature of sport to the permissibility of doping. Despite the central role that excellence occupies in ethical reasoning about sport, it has garnered more support than scrutiny in the literature. Little has been said about how this value can be advanced or undermined. This paper addresses that lacuna by demonstrating that excellence has a complexity that has previously gone unnoticed. Specifically, excellence has four distinct elements: the ‘cluster of excellence’, the ‘quantum of excellence’, the ‘clarity of excellence’, and the ‘balance of excellence’. Correspondingly, excellence can be advanced or undermined in any of four ways. This analysis yields the ‘Excellence Principle’ – a principle that provides a desideratum for any broad internalist (i.e. interpretivist) theory of sport and a normative framework with which to undertake excellence-based reasoning in sports ethics.
Keywords: Sports ethics; excellence; interpretivism; broad internalism; normative theories of sport; enhancement
College: Faculty of Science and Engineering
Issue: 2
Start Page: 195
End Page: 211