2012 Brownell & Parry - Olympic Values and Ethics in Contemporary Society_240712

7/22/2019 2012 Brownell & Parry - Olympic Values and Ethics in Contemporary Society_240712

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A publication of the

OLYMPIC CHAIR

HENRI de BAILLET LATOUR

JACQUES ROGGE

chair holder: Annick Willem

Olympic Values and Ethics

in Contemporary Society

Susan Brownell

Jim Parry


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Olympic Values and Ethics

in Contemporary Society

Susan Brownell

Jim Parry

Chair Holder Ghent University:

Annick Willem


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Copyright 2012 by Susan Brownell, Jim Parry, and the Olympic Chair Henri de Baillet Latour -

Jacques Rogge

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any

form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior

written permission of the authors or the Olympic Chair Henri de Baillet Latour - Jacques Rogge

Olympic Chair Henri de Baillet Latour - Jacques Rogge

Ghent University

Watersportlaan 2

9000 Ghent

Belgium

162 pages

ISBN XXX-XX-XXX-XXXX-X


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Content

Preface Annick Willem ........................................................................................................................ 7

Preface Thierry Zintz............................................................................................................................ 9

Preface Paul Van Cauwenberge ........................................................................................................ 11

PART 1: Lectures of Jim Parry ................................................................................................................ 13

The Ethical and Political Values Of the Olympic Movement ............................................................. 15

Physical Education as Olympic Education ......................................................................................... 29

Heroes and Villains: Doped Athletes and their Impact on Society and Education ........................... 49

The Youth Olympic GamesEthical and Value Issues ...................................................................... 61

Part 2: Lectures of Susan Brownell ........................................................................................................ 81

The Olympic Games in the World System: Reflections on the Future of Globalization ................... 83

Commercialism, Values, and Education in the Olympic Movement Today ...................................... 95

Women and Children in State-Supported vs. Market-Oriented Sport: China vs. the U.S. .............. 109

The Olympic Games and Human Rights: Moving forward from Beijing 2008 ................................. 121

Multiculturalism in International Sport: Shift of Power from West to East? .................................. 133

Sport, Politics, and World Peace: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics ............................................ 149


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Preface Annick Willem

This book is aimed at a wide readership encompassing all who are interested in sport and its values.

It is written from the perspective of the Olympic Movement but is certainly not limited to elite sportor the Olympics. Everyone interested in sport can learn from the Olympic Movement and the

challenges of sport in its international context. On the eve of the London Games, lessons from the

previous games need to be recalled.

This is not first - and it certainly will not be the last - book on Olympic values. What makes this book

unique are the authors, Susan Brownell and Jim Parry, who have knowledge, expertise and insight

that are unique and that have allowed them to make an in-depth investigation of the Olympic values.

Their insiers perspectives and critical reflections allow the readers of this book to think more

thoroughly about sport, its values, the Olympic Movement, and the Olympic Games. This brings us to

the main purpose of this book; namely, providing the reader with insights and reflections on theOlympic Movement, the Games and what they stand for.

Jim Parry talks about the ethical dimension of the Olympic Games and all that comes with it, such as

enormous media attention, politics, doping, multiculturalism, paradoxes between the Olympic

Charter, Olympism and reality. He explains the philosophical anthropology of Olympism to guide the

readers in interpreting the Olympic values in their international context and from an ethical

perspective. Susan Brownell looks at the Games from the inside out, as a western researcher and as

an American citizen, but with a tremendous knowledge of and sensitivity for Chinese culture. She will

take the readers of this book on a journey through the history of the Olympic Games, and in

particular the Games in China in 2008, teaching us about: the globalization of sport, the evolution tomulticulturalism in the Games, the tensions between the economic and commercial values and the

educational and Olympic values, the challenge of world peace in a context of world powers and

world politics, and the story behind the human rights dispute. While Jim Parry discusses Olympism in

general, Susan Brownell focuses particularly on the Games in Beijing.

They present us their knowledge based on in-depth research and investigations, complete with their

interpretations as food for thoughts. The book is organized as follows. It starts with the prefaces of

Prof dr. Paul Van Cauwenberge, Rector of Ghent University, who is a great champion of the Olympic

Movement and Olympic Games; and prefaces of the two chair-holders of the Olympic Chair Henri de

Baillet Latour-Jacques Rogge. The main part of the book is divided into two sections, one with the

texts of the lectures of Jim Parry and one with the texts of the lectures of Susan Brownell.

These authors have shared their thoughts during the Olympic Week, a yearly event organized by the

Olympic Chairs at Ghent University and Universit Catholique de Louvain. Jim Parry was our guest at

Ghent University in 2009 and Susan Brownell in 2011. The Olympic Chairs Henri de Baillet Latour-

Jacques Rogge are funded by the Fund Inbev-Balliet Latour, which was founded at the end of the

seventies by Alfred de Baillet Latour. The Fund Inbev-Balliet Latour supports four major sectors on

which the InBev-Baillet Latour focuses its initiatives: clinical research, university chairs and

scholarships, heritage, and the Olympic spirit. One of the aims of the fund is, thus, supporting the

Olympic Movement. It is the ambition of the Fund and the partners holding the Olympic Chairs Henri


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de Baillet Latour-Jacques Rogge to greatly advance the knowledge and understanding of the Olympic

Movement among a broad audience.

The Olympic Chairs were founded in October, 2008. The Olympic Chair Henri de Baillet Latour-

Jacques Rogge is the fifth Olympic Chair in the World and has as its purpose the academic study of

the diverse aspects of the management of sport organizations with an emphasis on the Olympicvalues, to stimulate the sporting ethos and deontology of athletes and to enhance cooperation

between the two parts of the country. At the moment, at both UGent and UCL, a scholarship

researcher is financed with the resources of the Chair to do research in the domain of sport

management and the Olympic values. Also, research seminars and guest lectures are frequently

organized at both universities. The choice of the Universities of Ghent and Louvain, like the name of

this unique cooperation, wasnt without reason. Count Henri e Baillet Latour once himself stuie

at Louvain and Count Jacques Rogge was a student of Ghent University, from which he received an

honorary PhD in 2001. Both were the only two Belgian chairmen of the International Olympic

Committee. Count de Baillet Latour was Chair from 1926 until 1942, while Count Rogge has been the

present Chairman since 2001.

At Ghent University, the Olympic Chair was led, until his unexpected and tragic decease on August

14th 2010, by Professor Marc Maes. Professor Annick Willem, Professor of Sport Management in the

Department of Movement and Sport Sciences, took over the torch. At Louvain University, Professor

Thierry Zintz holds the Olympic Chair. He also is the Dean of the Faculty of Physical Education and

Rehabilitation at this institute. Thanks to the Chair, both universities are able to enhance their

collaboration. We, therefore, express our gratitude to the Fund Inbev-Balliet Latour.

Ghent, July 2012

Prof dr Annick Willem


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Preface Thierry Zintz

In 2009, the Olympic Chair Henri de Baillet Latour and Jacques Rogge welcomed the honourable Prof.

dr. Jim Parry of the University of Leeds, England. It was a great honour as Professor Parry is, to my

colleague Marc Maes and to me, one of the most prominent experts on Olympism, Sports & Ethics.

Unfortunately Professor Marc Maes passed away in August 2010. He was a reference in ethics and

sport and helped me in balancing management and ethics in sport organizations in a proper way.

However the main reason for inviting Professor Parry was that he is one of the few who broadly

embodies the Olympic Movement. For him, the Olympics are only the tip of the iceberg that consists

of a broad movement aiming to emphasize sports as a universal language. He wishes to pay special

attention to the cultural development in symbiosis with the overall development of the personality

of youth globally.

This book presents the lectures Professor Parry gave during his stay at the Universities of Ghent andLouvain-la-Neuve as a visiting professor of the Chair (May 2009). His humanistic views on sport and

ethics deeply impressed our students, during their classes, as well as our guests during the public

conferences. He claime that Olympic ieals may be seen not merely as inert ieals, but living

ideas which have the power to remake our notions of sport in education, seeing sport not as mere

physical activity but as the cultural and developmental activity of an aspiring, achieving, well-

balance, eucate an ethical iniviual (Parry, 1998 ).

Next to the essays of Professor Parry, we are delighted to present the work of Professor Susan

Brownell, who visited the Chair in 2011. Professor Susan Brownell, (USA), obtained her degree in

anthropology and a doctoral title at the University of California-Santa Barbara in 1990. She wasappointed professor at the St. Louis University in Missouri in 1994. She is very committed to her

research work concerning sports and the human body, with a particular interest in Chinese culture. In

the eighties she travelled to China to learn the language and work on her PhD, and she lived in Beijng

in the year leading up to the 2008 Olympics. She has acquired a status as international expert on

Sports in China, which was an excellent occasion for us to invite her and gave her a stage to talk

about the Olympic Games in Beijing.

Both researchers give us unique insights into the domain of sport ethics, and stimulate us to question

our beliefs and understanding of important societal matters.

Prof. Dr. Thierry Zintz,

Co-holder of the Olympic Chair

Henri de Baillet Latour & Jacques Rogge

in Management of Sport Organisations,

Universit catholique de Louvain


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Preface Paul Van Cauwenberge

On behalf of Ghent University, I am delighted to introduce this book, which is a publication of the

Olympic Chair Henri de Baillet Latour-Jacques Rogge. For years now I have been fascinated by the

Olympic Games and the Olympic Movement, by the results that have been and are being obtained

during the different Games as well as the state of mind that stands for Olympism.

Olympism was introduced by Baron Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the Olympic Movement and

responsible for the revival of the Modern Olympic Games. According to him, sport from an early age

was very important for the formation of youngsters and adolescents, for assuring a better future for

all of us. His interest in this matter was nurtured by the many trips he undertook.

He became acquainted with sport-orientated school systems and the explosive evolution of the sport

clubs environment. Keywords for him were values, discipline and a volunteer's mentality. By a

volunteer's mentalityde Coubertin was referring to the voluntary choice of making the effort forphysical exertion. "The primary objective of sport pedagogy is the stimulation and encouragement of

moral education through sport and physical education", de Coubertin said, and he expressed this

quite emphatically: "Du bronzage de l'me par le bronzage du corps".

De Coubertin was especially interested in the Olympic philosophy, Olympism, a complex of

anthropological concepts in which sports could be considered as both the means and the end. The

Olympic Games arent only about greatness in sport, but they eal with virtue an values as well.

Pierre De Coubertin acknowledged the importance of the ethical value of the Games and how the

Olympic vision can inspire not only athletes, but society as a whole.

The Olympic and Paralympic values, being friendship, respect, courage, excellence, determination,

inspiration and equality, are important on the sports field but they are applicable to much broader

domains and remain admirable principles that can be of great support to each one of us. Sport can

be of great benefit to societal challenges, such as development, education, peace and equal rights. It

can fulfil a role as a lever, a reconciliator, and an initiator of progress in these fields. I strongly believe

that we can indeed build a better world through sport.

However, we should not forget that these values are sometimes at risk in the world of sport itself

and need to be carefully tended and managed. Because sport has been evolving rapidly during the

last years, the gap between the manager of a sport organization, often a volunteer, and thepractitioner of sport, who is becoming increasingly professionalized, is becoming bigger.

This situation requires special managerial attention. In this complex situation, there is also an

increasing call for the promotion and protection of ethical behaviour on the field and in the

boardroom. For these developments and considerations in the domain of sport management,

eminent researchers worldwide bear a shared responsibility.


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Prof. dr. Jim Parry and Prof. dr. Susan Brownell are two of these excellent researchers. They were

welcomed at our university to lecture about the ethics that are involved in the changing world of

sport and sport management. Their presentations have led to interesting texts on the ethics of the

Olympic Games and their value in contemporary society, which are presented to you now in thismanuscript.

Prof. dr. Paul Van Cauwenberge

Rector Ghent University


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PART 1: Lectures of Jim Parry


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The Ethical and Political Values Of the Olympic Movement

Olympism

For most people, I suppose, the wor Olympic will conjure up images of the Olympic Games, either

ancient or modern. The focus of their interest will be a two-week festival of sport held once in every

four years between elite athletes representing their countries or city-states in inter-communal

competition.

Most people, too, will have hear of an Olympia, even though it issometimes thought to refer to a

particular Games. In fact it refers to a four-year period, during which a Games may or may not be

held. So: the Athens Games are properly referred to not as the XXVIII Games (since there have been

only twenty-four, three having been cancelled due to World Wars) but as the Games of the XXVIII

Olympiad. The Games are held to celebrate the end of the period of the Olympiad.

Fewer, however, will have hear of Olympism, the philosophy evelope by the founer of the

modern Olympic Movement, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, a French aristocrat who had been much

influenced by the British Public School tradition of sport in education. This philosophy has as its focus

of interest not just the elite athlete, but everyone; not just a short truce period, but the whole of life;

not just competition and winning, but also the values of participation and co-operation; not just

sport as an activity, but also as a formative and developmental influence contributing to desirable

characteristics of individual personality and social life.1

Olympism - a universal social philosophy

For Olympism is a social philosophy which emphasises the role of sport in world development,

international understanding, peaceful co-existence, and social and moral education. De Coubertin

understood, towards the end of the nineteenth century, that sport was about to become a major

growth point in popular culture - and that, as physical activity, it was apparently universalizable,

providing a means of contact and communication across cultures.

A universal philosophy by definition sees itself as relevant to everyone, regardless of nation, race,

gender, social class, religion or ideology, and so the Olympic movement has worked for a coherentuniversal representation of itself - a concept of Olympism which identifies a range of values to which

each nation can sincerely commit itself whilst at the same time finding for the general idea a form of

expression which is unique to itself, generated by its own culture, location, history, tradition and

projected future.

De Coubertin, being a product of late nineteenth-century liberalism, emphasised the values of

equality, fairness, justice, respect for persons, rationality and understanding, autonomy, and

1

de Coubertin, P. (1894/1934). Forty Years of Olympism. In Carl-Diem-Institut (Ed.), The Olympic Idea: Pierre deCoubertinDiscourses and Essays. Stuttgart: Olympischer Sportverlag, 1966, pp. 126-130.


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excellence. These are values which span nearly 3000 years of Olympic history, although some of

them may be differently interpreted at different times. They are, basically, the main values of liberal

humanism - or perhaps we should say simply humanism, since socialist societies have found little

difficulty in including Olympic ideals into their overall ideological stance towards sport.

The contemporary task for the Olympic Movement is to further this project: To try to see moreclearly what its Games (and sport in wider society) might come to mean. This task will be both at the

level of ideas and of action. If the practice of sport is to be pursued and developed according to

Olympic values, the theory must strive for a conception of Olympism which will support that practice.

The ideal should seek both to sustain sports practice and to lead sport towards a vision of Olympism

which will help to deal with the challenges which are bound to emerge.

The Olympic Charter

The Olympic Charter states simply the relationship between Olympic philosophy, ethics and

education:

Fundamental Principle 2 says: 2

Olympism is a philosophy of life, exalting and combining in a balanced whole the qualities of

body, will and mind. Blending sport with culture and education, Olympism seeks to create a

way of life based on the joy found in effort, the educational value of good example and

respect for universal fundamental ethical principles.

Fundamental Principle 6 says:2

The goal of the Olympic Movement is to contribute to building a peaceful and better worldby educating youth through sport practised without discrimination of any kind and in the

Olympic spirit, requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair

play.

If we a to this e Coubertins famous icta all sports for all people 3an All games, all nations4

we seem to have a recipe for the core values of Olympism: effort and excellence; friendship and

solidarity; peace and international understanding; and multiculturalism.

2p.7 in IOC (2008). The Olympic Charter. Lausanne: IOC.3p.187 in During, B., and Brisson, J.F. (1994). Sport, Olympism and Cultural Diversity. In B. Jeu et al. (Eds.), For a

Humanism of Sport. Paris: CNOSF-Editions, pp. 187-197.4p.127 in de Coubertin, P. (1894/1934). Forty Years of Olympism. In Carl-Diem-Institut (Ed.), The Olympic Idea:

Pierre de CoubertinDiscourses and Essays. Stuttgart: Olympischer Sportverlag, 1966, pp. 126-130.


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A Philosophical Anthropology of Olympism

Based on its heritage and traditions, each society (and each ideology) has a political and philosophical

anthropology - an idealised conception of the kind of person that that society (or ideology) values,

and tries to produce and reproduce through its formal and informal institutions.

In Chapter 2, I shall discuss many attempts to interpret the idea of Olympism, and I shall try to

present a 'philosophical anthropology' of Olympism as part of an explication of its ideology, and as a

contribution to a theory of physical education.56For now, it will suffice to suggest (without

discussion) that the Olympic Idea translates into a few simple phrases which capture the essence of

what an ideal human being ought to be and to aspire to. It promotes the ideals of: individual all

round harmonious human development;

towards excellence and achievement;

through effort in competitive sporting activity;

under conditions of mutual respect, fairness, justice and equality;with a view to creating lasting personal human relationships of friendship;

international relationships of peace, toleration and understanding;

and cultural alliances with the arts.

Sport and Universalism

However, Olympism achieves its ends through the medium of sport, and so it cannot escape the

requirement to provide an account of sport which reveals both its nature and its ethical potential. Let

me briefly suggest a set of criteria which might begin to indicate the fundamentally ethical nature of

sport.

physical (so effortis required),

contest (contract to contest - competition and excellence),

rule-governed (obligation to abide by the rules, fair play, equality and justice),

institutionalise (lawful authority),

shared values and commitments(due respectis owed to opponents as co-facilitators).

It is difficult even to state the characteristics of sport without relying on terms that carry ethical

import, and such meanings must apply across the world of sports participation. Without agreement

on rule-adherence, the authority of the referee, and the central shared values of the activity, there

could be no sport. The first task of an International Federation is to clarify rules and harmonize

understandings so as to facilitate the universal practice of its sport.

5

Parry, J.(1998a). Physical Education as Olympic Education. European Physical Education Review, 4(2), 153-167.6Parry, J.(1998b). The Justification of Physical Education. In K Green & K Hardman (eds.), Physical Education - a

reader, Meyer & Meyer, pp. 36-68.


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Olympism: Immutable Values?

The principles of Olympism, to be universal, must be unchanging, and yet they must apparently be

everywhere different. They must not change over time, but at all times we see rule changes

reflecting social changes. How are these paradoxes to be resolved?

What I have argued elsewhere 7is that there are indeed fundamental differences between the

ancient an moern Games, an between e Coubertins revivalist ieas an those which are current

today. The ancient Games had developed over a thousand years, as an expression of the values of a

developing archaic community. The modern Games, however, were created by a set of nineteenth

century ideas which sought to impose a modern ideology onto ancient values so as to affect

contemporary social practice for the better.

Such differences are inevitable, over time and space. Social ideas, or ideas inscribed in social

practices, depend upon a specific social order or a particular set of social relationships for their full

meaning to be exemplified. This seems to suggest that such meanings are culturally relative and thattherefore there could be no such thing as a universal idea of Olympism. But are we doomed to

relativism? Are we doomed to a situation in which we must continue to misunderstand one another,

since we inhabit different cultures (an therefore generate ifferent meanings for Olympism)?

Rawlsdistinction between concepts and conceptions is useful here.8The conceptof Olympism, being

an abstraction, will be at a high level of generality, although this does not mean that it will be

unclear. What it means is that the general ideas which comprise its meaning will admit of possibly

contesting interpretations. Thus, naturally, the concept of Olympism will find different expressions in

time and place, history and geography - just as the concepts of democracy, art and religion do. There

will be differing conceptionsof Olympism, which will interpret the general concept in such a way asto bring it to real life in a particular context.

Taken together, the promotion of these values will be seen to be the educative task, and sport will be

seen as a means. Each one of these values, being articulated at a high level of generality, will admit of

a wide range of interpretation. But they nevertheless provide a framework which can be agreed upon

by social groups with very differing commitments. This raises the questions of the relationships

between such differing cultural formations, and of our own attitudes towards cultural difference.

One way of addressing these questions is via a consideration of the very important notion of

multiculturalism.

7Parry, J. (1988). Olympism at the Beginning and End of the Twentieth Century. Proceedings of the

International Olympic Academy, 28, pp. 81-94.8Rawls, J. (1993). The Law of Peoples. In Shute & Hurley (eds.), On Human Rights, New York: Basic Books, pp.

41-82.


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Liberalism and Multiculturalism

In an earlier paper 9, I looked at the contemporary importance for liberalism of the idea of

multiculturalism. The liberal state sees itself as deliberately not choosing any particular conception of

the Good Life for its citizens to follow. Rather, it sees itself as neutral between the alternative

conceptions of the Good to be found in most modern liberal democracies. In this it sharply

istinguishes itself from illiberal states, which emboy an enforce one view of the Goo Life.

Rather than promoting one culture over another, it sees itself as multicultural. Citizens can choose

their own version of the Good and pursue their own aims and values, independently of the state. In

such a state, attention to multicultural ideals such as recognition, respect and equal status for all

cultures will become increasingly important.

Multiculturalism is a fact nowadays for most Western societies, and it requires a political society to

recognise the equal standing of all stable and viable communities existing in a society. It outlaws

discrimination against groups and individuals on the grounds of ethnicity, race, nationality, religion,

class, gender or sexual preference. However, some of these communities may be authoritarian,

illiberal and oppressive so oes multiculturalism apply equally to all communities, or only to

liberal ones?

Rawls10

attempts to draw guidelines for a Law of Peoples acceptable to members of both liberal and

illiberal cultures, by introucing the notion of reasonable societies. These societies, though illiberal,

follow certain core principles:

Peace (pursuing their ends through diplomacy and trade).

Common Good (a conception of justice).

Consultation (a reasonable hierarchy thereof).

Responsibility (citizens recognise their obligations and play a part in social life).

Freedom (some freedom of conscience/thought).

Reasonable societies, even illiberal ones, coul agree to a Law of Peoples base on such a thin

liberalism as this and this could be seen very positively: as offering learning experiences both ways,

as each culture learns from the other. But multiculturalism has its limits, and those limits are drawn

by the universalistic claims of thin liberalism, supported by some form of Human Rights theory. As

Hollis11

says, liberal societies

must fight for at least a minimalist, procedural thesis about freedom, justice, equality and

individual rights.

In the short term, in the interests of peace and development (or of political or economic gain), such

basic moral commitments may be temporarily diluted or shelved but they are the inalienable

bedrock of the possibility of a global multiculturalism. There are limits to toleration. Liberal

democracy is (still) an exclusionary system - some cultures are beyond the pale.

9Parry, J. (1999). Globalisation, Multiculturalism and Olympism. Proceedings of the International Olympic

Academy, 39, pp. 86-97.10

Rawls, J. (1993). The Law of Peoples. In Shute & Hurley (eds.), On Human Rights, New York: Basic Books, pp.

41-82.11Hollis, M. (1999). Is Universalism Ethnocentric? In C. Joppke & S. Lukes (eds.), Multicultural Questions,

Oxford: OUP, pp. 27-43.


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Why Be Multiculturalist?

Why should we be multiculturalists? Because we want to honour and respect the widest variety of

human culture. Why? Because it enriches us all. We value diversity because every culture expresses a

form of human life and helps us to appreciate the full range of difference and choice. It is the same

reason that we value knowledge of the history of human social evolution: to help us to understand

more fully our identity as humans.

But this means that we have to tolerate difference, and we have to accept that sometimes other

peoples views will hol sway over our own. The liberal citizen permits democracy - people can see

the reason for (and therefore accept) decisions even if they do not agree with them. Such a rational

pluralism is characteristic of Liberalism, but unreasonable octrines will not accept such a

pluralism. Liberals see the problem as resting with those who object to the valuing of anything other

than their own culture. In these circumstances we can still believe in live an let live but we must

defend the liberal values that permit such tolerance. Central to our concern is the defence of

individual rights against illiberal groups.

We have two motivations:

(a) to save a valuable heritage, central to the identity of a group of people;

(b) to defend the liberal rights of the individual.

For example, imagine Aztec society, now long disappeared. Its achievements (in common with the

astonishing achievements of other indigenous meso-American cultures) cause us to think again about

the capacity of humans to organize themselves into social groups that can build, think, create,

maintain, etc. But it also promoted the ritual sacrifice of some of its members to propitiate its gods.

So we disapprove of forced sacrifice, ritual murder, cannibalism, etc. - but this does not prevent us

from valuing those cultures for their achievements, and for their reminders to us of the great variety

and flexibility of possible human social arrangements.

So what do we do? Internally, we seek to liberalise those cultures, at least to some small extent, e.g.

to enforce basic liberal rights within the liberal states. So, in minority cultures, we permit no slaves,

no mutilation, no forced marriage, no child prostitution, etc. - or we permit individuals to escape

from those circumstances if they want to; to eny others the right to harness iniviuals to their

ends. Externally, we pursue foreign policies that seek to contain hostile illiberal societies in ways that

minimise their threat to liberal ones. So long as they are far away, pose no external threat,

collaborate with (or at least do not obstruct) commerce, we may express disapproval or criticism of

their arrangements, but we often leave them to do as they wish, even in cases where the majority of

the population is obviously oppressed.


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Is Universalism Ethnocentric?

Critics of the liberal project put forward the objection that the idea of liberal democracy is a historical

product, a kind of western ethnocentrism, a kind of post-colonial imperialism, foisting local western

values on the rest of the world. The kin of universalism to which both liberalism an Olympism

pretend is just an ethnocentric smokescreen. There is no basis for such a universalism of values,

because all values arise within cultures, and therefore do not apply across cultural boundariesthey

are culturally relative.

We may call this thesis the Anthropologists Heresy:liberalism for the liberals! cannibalism for the

cannibals! 12. All cultures are equally vali, because they can only be juge on their own internal

termsnorms and principles that apply only to themselves.

Objections

1. This thesis cannot account for moral criticism across culturesfor how can we criticize unjust

practices if that is all they arethe practices of others?2. Is relativism itself a kind of concealed ethnocentrism? Is it true that to respect other cultures is

to abstain from criticizing them? Or is this a kind of disrespect failing to apply to others

(denying to others) the standards of justification and argument we apply to ourselves?

3. Relativism is self-refuting. It is a theory that claims that there are no cross-cultural truths. Well,

then: does relativism apply to itself? If so, relativism is not true (because it says that there are

no cross-cultural truths; so relativism is just a cultural practice of anthropologists, with no

claim to truth, and therefore nothing to say to outsiders like me). So: even if relativism could

be true, it would make itself false. But relativism cant be 'true', since it claims that there is no

such thing as 'truth'.

4. Concept of culture is a tricky one here, too.Relativism, says Lukes12 , traes on poor mans

sociology, accoring to which cultures are homogeneous, coherent wholes. But cultures are

not winowless boxes.Conflicts arise within cultures as well as between them, but relativism

gives us no way of making progress.

5. Finally, aherence to the Anthropologists Heresy means a rejection of all those organisations

that pretend to universalist values, including the United Nations, the World Health

Organisation and Amnesty International. It means that there is no such thing as Human Rights,

an idea which, of course, is rooted in notions of our universally common humanity. I ont

think that there will be too many of us willing to accept such a radically disastrous conclusion.

So Lukes and Hollis12 dismiss relativism as a sensible response to diversity. Of course, there is

considerable diversity, and the job of the anthropologist is to seek it out and describe it for us. But

the anthropologist exceeds his occupational remit when he seeks to convert his experiences into an

ethical theory. The importance of such research cannot be overestimated. It continually reminds us

that we should recognize the value of modesty or restraint in moral judgement and criticism, and

avoid the dangers of abstract moralising. But anthropological experience is not a sufficient basis for

ethical theory. The facts of diversity require theoretical explanation but the facts alone do not

explain it.

12Lukes, S. (2002). Liberals and Cannibals. London: Verso; and Hollis, M. (1999). Is Universalism Ethnocentric?

In C. Joppke & S. Lukes (eds.), Multicultural Questions, Oxford: OUP, p. 36.


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Liberal Democracy - an Historical Product?

So I must ask myself: o I accept liberalism just because its the view of my tribe? I ont think so,

because any political view requires a justification, and we offer arguments for and against particular

systems.

Liberal emocracy is a historical prouct.Well, it is true that the benefits of liberal societies flowfrom a series of European inventions:

The constitution of the individual as a legal subject.

Scepticism as to the truth.

Self-criticism.

Separation of church and politics (and the emergence of the secular state).

Separation of church and knowledge (and the development of the scientific world-view).

However, the fact that liberalism happened first in the West does not bestow a greater virtue upon

us. Maybe it just happenedhereas it were, contingently. In Europe, historically, people just became

exhausted from religious wars, and pluralism emerged as a pragmatic way of carrying on with life

without the debilitating and destructive background of constant war. And look how long and painful

was this development in the West through religious and social persecution (there were witchcraft

trials all over Europe, Catholics in England were still denied political rights in the mid-19 thcentury,

women until after the First World War, African-Americans until after the Second World War, etc.). It

took hundreds of years of development, and we are still not satisfied with our political systems.

Apartheid in South Africa, state communism in Europe, religious and ethnic enmity in Ireland, the

former Yugoslavia, the former USSR, etc. It is a long and painful struggle to achieve stability with

freedom and development, and maybe the preconditions do not yet exist everywhere.

Liberal emocracy is a historical prouct. This makes it sound as though there is no justificatoryargument for liberalism, although a very important element of liberal thinking, part of the liberal

project, is the claim that liberalism expresses a kin of truth about human beings an the human

condition; that it is the best mode of social organization for the benefit of all citizens of the world.

The arguments we advance for liberalism claim that it is the system within which individuals can find

maximal freedom for self-development and maximal choice of life-style, and through which

communities can progress along their own chosen path of development in peace and fruitful concord

with other communities. It is a salient fact that no liberal democracy has ever declared war on

another.

But we have to remain self-aware and self-critical. Just because some community claims the status ofa liberal democracy does not automatically mean that they are the good guys. Our judgements of

their goals and their actions contribute to our assessments of the quality of a particular democracy. Is

it behaving in anti-liberal ways? Is it being perverted or exploited? What are its disadvantages, and

how can they be ameliorated? Where does it need improvement? Is a majority being oppressive

and if so do we need special minority group rights?

So we hope to see critical liberal democracies, striving towards ideals expressed in terms of human

rights and peaceful co-existence. Since they are human creations, they will be imperfect and they will

make mistakes. It is often said that democracy is not a very good system of government it is

inefficient, cumbersome, ridden with untidy and unsatisfactory compromises, and with many otherfaults and disadvantages - but every other system of government thought up by mankind is worse!


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Olympism Again

Above, I outlined the distinction between concepts and conceptions, and argued that the concept of

Olympism will be at a high level of generality. In fact, it sets out a range of thin liberal values, allie

to the thin values underlying the concept of sport. However, the values which comprise its meaning

will amit of contesting interpretations, exhibiting a range of thick values as the concep t ofOlympism finds different expressions in time and place, history and geography.

In terms of promoting its aims of international understanding and multiculturalism, it is most

important that the Olympic movement continues to work for a coherent universal representation of

itself - a concept of Olympism to which each nation can sincerely commit itself whilst at the same

time finding for the general idea a form of expression (a conception) which is unique to itself,

generated by its own culture, location, history, tradition and projected future.

I believe that providing multicultural education in and for modern democracies is a new and urgent

task, and one that must be made to work if we are to secure a workable political heritage for future

generations. In the present global political context, this means promoting international

understanding and mutual respect; and a commitment to the peaceful resolution of conflict.

In the case of Olympism, I think that the thin values unerpinning the rule structures of sport,

acceptance of which by all participants is a pre-condition of the continuing existence of sporting

competition, support at the educational and cultural levels such political efforts. Children who are

brought into sporting practices, and who are aware of international competitions such as the

Olympic Games and the World Cup, are thereby becoming aware of the possibilities of international

co-operation, mutual respect, and mutual valuing.

The Olympic Games went to Moscow in 1980, and it was impossible to prevent the penetration of

ideas into a previously closed society. Maybe the connection is fanciful, but maybe there is a direct

relation to the ramatic, spectacular an increible events of 1989, when The Wall came own.

Only 15 years later, many of the former Eastern bloc countries formally joine the European Union.

A generation before, this was unthinkable. We should watch with care the results of Beijing 2008,

when a mighty and venerable culture, on the cusp of massive economic expansion into world

markets, accepted the influence of visitors and the kind of global communications associated with an

Olympic Games. The 2008 Olympic Games can surely be read as a public and global affirmation of a

China that is ready to look outwards and take its place in the world.

Nowaays the very iea of a close society is uner threat everywhere the people are no longer

reliant on restricted and controlled forms of information. The internet, satellite television and global

forms of communication are all contributing to a democratization of information, and the extensive

migration of people across continents is producing a new cosmopolitanism. It will require

increasingly high levels of dogmatism, authoritarianism, isolationism and extremism to sustain

closed, exclusivist societies. Their life is limited. This, at any rate, has to be our hope, and the hope of

any kind of peaceful internationalism based on the ideas of individual freedom and human rights.

Does all this matter? Is it just abstract academic theorizing? I think it matters a great deal, and our

commitment to the development of global forms of expression such as sport, and to international

understanding through Olympism is one way that we as individuals can express our commitments,

ideals and hopes for the future of the world.


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Organizational Ethics

But our influence as individuals, though important, is necessarily small, and so we often rely on

organizations to represent and express our views in more powerful ways. The International Olympic

Committee is the organization charged with promoting the ethical ideals of Olympism, and it has

attracted some criticism in recent years,

Segrave 13says:

Perhaps the most egregious example of the widening chasm between the organizational

ideals and organizational conduct within the Olympic movement is the ever deepening

corruption and bribery scandal that has engulfed the Olympics since late 1998 when Swiss IOC

member Marc Hodler first exposed the chicanery surrounding Salt Lake Citys bid for the 2002

Winter Olympics.

Several IOC members came under personal scrutiny and criticism, and later resigned or were

expelled, but the IOC itself was also castigated for failing to notice or prevent unethical practices. The

question arose: was the IOC itself an ethical organization?

We routinely ascribe moral responsibility to individuals, but does it make sense to talk of the

responsibility of a company, corporation, government, institution or organization, such as the

International Olympic Committee? Some think that organizations are just like persons, having rights

and responsibilities, and others think that this applies only to human individuals. Somewhere in the

middle lies the truth: sometimes corporate decisions and practices exceed the responsibilities of the

individuals who collectively made them (the whole is bigger than the sum of its parts); but

sometimes the individuals within the organization end up accepting more responsibility than is fair.

If things go wrong (in ethical terms), people inside the organization should not be used as scapegoats

for the shortcomings of the organization, but neither should they be allowed to hide inside the

organization if they are blameworthy.

Of course, organizations are constituted by individuals, who jointly design its structures, strategies,

attitudes, values and aimsin short, its culture. So we need to examine two ways of approaching the

description of the ethical organisation: via an analysis of the corporate culture, and of the moral

autonomy of the individual within the corporation.

Corporate culture

Corporate culture has been characterise as the way we o things roun here , as an

expression of the lived values of the organisation. Of course, since the culture may have arisen

organically, out with the intentions and will of the individuals within the organisation, it may or may

not exhibit those values that the corporate leadership would wish it to. An ethical approach asks why

we do the things we do, and whywe do things this way rather than that. Both of these things (our

ends and our means) express our values.

13p.273 in Segrave, J.O. (2000). The (Neo)Modern Olympic Games. International Review for the Sociology of

Sport, 35, 3, pp. 268-281.


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So, what might be necessary for arriving at an account of a morally excellent organizationone with

an ethical culture? Hoffmann 14suggests a three-step process:

1. Identifying issues asethical issues, or as having an ethical dimension,

2. Engaging actively in moral thinking,

3. Translating decisions into moral actions.

The first step is crucial. Issues are often dealt with as technical, scientific or organizational, when they

will never be resolved without an explicit confrontation with the ethical aspects of the issue. Think,

for example, of anti-doping measures, where research and development has been overwhelmingly

directed at expensive and yet spectacularly unsuccessful technical/scientific solutions, whereas the

problem is mainly ethical, not scientific. Or think of the allocation of the Olympic Games through the

bidding process, where the ethical commitments of Olympism are seldom mentioned amongst all the

technical detail considered (whereas FIFA has committe itself to the principle of rotating events,

and next time to Africa). What is necessary here is the self-conscious adoption of an ethical mind-set

as part of the approach to the problem. Without that, we remain ethically blind and vulnerable to

ethical mistakes.

The second step requires, in addition, the self-conscious adoption of a set of ethical principles and

proceures born of thoughtful eliberation internal to the organizations structure an culture.This

might mean attention to legislation and Codes of Conduct, statements of aims and values, training

programmes (such as the Football Associations Chil Protection training for intening coaches),

internal ethical audits, equal opportunities and human rights policies, grievance and appeals

procedures, and so on. This step celebrates the idea of the Thinking Organization, that takes seriously

its duty to reflect upon itself, its workings and its impact on individuals and society.

The third step reminds us that fine thoughts are not enough. Good intentions must be translated into

action, and this requires determination and resolve.

In the case of sports organizations, we ought to expect that they will take a close interest in matters

such as, for example:

Corporate Governance Ethics.

Anti-Doping and Drugs Education.

Participant Rehabilitation.

Privacy and Data Protection issues.

Justice and Human Rights.

Fair Play and Equality of Opportunity.

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (especially age and disability issues).

Equality and anti-Discrimination (class, race, ethnicity, religion and gender issues).

Chil Protection an Chilrens Rights.

Violence and Harm.

Pain, Injury and Medical issues.

14pp.45-47 in Hoffmann, W. M. (1994). What is necessary for corporate moral excellence? In J. Drummond, &

B. Bain, Managing Business Ethics. London: Heinemann-Butterworth, pp. 39-54.


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The moral autonomy of the individual within the organization

One view of the excellent organization is that each person understands and accepts his or her role

and status within the organization, works as a cog in the wheel, and contributes at his or her own

level to the unified goal of the organization. But it is not necessarily true that an excellent

organization leaves no space for individual thought and autonomy.

Individuals cannot feel a sense of freedom and empowerment if they are not kept informed and

consulted about developments, or if they feel themselves a tiny part of a massive organizational

structure, or if they simply follow orders and instructions all the time. So successful organizations

seek to provide ways in which individuals can see themselves as meaningful contributors by

offering them opportunities to solve problems and initiate moral action in their own sphere, and by

making corporate moral goals their own. Failure to do so is failure to recognize them as moral agents

able to develop their own moral autonomy.15

Hoffmans conclusion is that moral culture provies the form an iniviual mo ral autonomyprovides the content for the morally excellent corporation.16This is precisely applicable to sports

organizations, which must consider both dimensions.

The IOC Ethics Commission

The International Olympic Committee is an international organization that seeks to be an ethical

organization. After all, it is not simply a profit-seeking company, but pursues ethical as well as other

aims. As a direct result of criticism, the IOC set up an Ethics Commission in 1999 , whose Terms of

Reference were:

1. to develop, and update, a framework of ethical principles, including a Code of Ethics, based uponthe values and principles enshrined in the Olympic Charter;

2. to develop and promote best practice in the application of the ethical principles and suggestconcrete measures to this end;

3. to provide assistance, including advice, upon request by the IOC, to the cities wishing to organizethe Olympic Games, in orer that the ethical principles are applie in practice;

4. to help ensure compliance with the ethical principles in the policies and practices of the IOC, thecities wishing to organize the Olympic Games, the NOCs, the OCOGs and the participants within

the framework of the Olympic Games;

5. to assess the extent to which the ethical principles are being reflected in practice;6. to investigate complaints raised in relation to the non-respect of the ethical principles, including

breaches of the Code of Ethics, and if necessary propose sanctions to the Executive Board;

7. to review guidelines within the IOC as to how they relate to the ethical principles, in particularthe guidelines applicable to cities wishing to organize the Olympic Games, and to make

comments and/or recommendations related thereto.

15p.50 in Hoffmann, W. M. (1994). What is necessary for corporate moral excellence? In J. Drummond, & B.

Bain, Managing Business Ethics. London: Heinemann-Butterworth, pp. 39-54.16p.52 in Hoffmann, W. M. (1994). What is necessary for corporate moral excellence? In J. Drummond, & B.

Bain, Managing Business Ethics. London: Heinemann-Butterworth, pp. 39-54.


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The IOC Ethics Commission website (see the Crisis and Reform Chronology pages) makes it clear that

the IOC sought to take steps to engage in an organizational re-think of the implications of the values

in the Charter, and to ensure that those values were respected throughout the organization. This is a

significant step forward, as it provides a benchmark for future assessments of IOC policy and

practice, and of the actions of individual members.

There is a close relationship between ethics, policy and action, inasmuch as policies and actions

encapsulate and express ethical values. It is possible to rea off working values from policies an

actions and compare them with professed values. What the Olympic Movement means by its values

should be written into its practices; and its sincerity may be interrogated through the reality of its

practices.

And we are all watching, judging and commentingwhich is just as it should be. Part of life in liberal

communities is maintaining a critical awareness of the organizations we choose to support (and

others, too). For our support is crucial. If the editor of a national newspaper makes an editorial

mistake that upsets many of his readers, he will have to leave. If the Prime Minister disappoints hissupporters in government, he will be replaced. If IOC members behave dishonestly, or against

Olympic principles, they threaten the moral standing of the whole organization, and that is

intolerable.

Our duty in liberal society is to be aware, to take a critical interest, to learn to understand the issues,

to express a point of view, to contribute to the formation of opinion and, where necessary, to press

for action. This is the best way to protect the values we wish to promote, and to preserve the

organizations that we hope will work for us.

And that is why we are here. This is the work of the Olympic Academies, and of the Olympic Chair.


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Physical Education as Olympic Education

Introduction

As we have seen, the philosophy of Olympism carries with it ethical and political content but, above

all, Olympism is an educational philosophy, emphasising the role of ethical sport in educational and

social development. In an early paper17

, I argued that:

the justification of PE activities lies in their capacity to facilitate the development of certain

human excellences of a valued kind. Of course, the problem now lies in specifying those

human excellences of a valued kind, and (for anyone) this task leads us into the area of

philosophical anthropology.

I suggested that the way forward for Physical Education lies in the philosophical anthropology (and

the ethical ideals) of Olympism, which provide a specification of a variety of human values and

excellences which:

have been attractive to human groups over an impressive span of time and space;

have contributed massively to our historically developed conceptions of ourselves;

have helped to develop a range of artistic and cultural conceptions that have defined

Western culture;

have produced a range of physical activities that have been found universally satisfying

and challenging.

Although physical activities are widely considered to be pleasurable, their likelihood of gaining wideacceptance lies rather in their intrinsic value, which transcends the simply hedonic or relative good.

Their ability to furnish us with pleasurable experiences depends upon our prior recognition in them

of opportunities for the development and expression of valued human excellences. They are widely

considered to be such opportunities for the expression of valued human excellences because, even

when as local instantiations, their object is to challenge our common human propensities and

abilities.

I claime that Olympic ieals may be seen not merely as inert ieals, but living ieas which have the

power to remake our notions of sport in education, seeing sport not as mere physical activity but as

the cultural and developmental activity of an aspiring, achieving, well-balanced, educated and ethicalindividual.

This chapter seeks to make good that claim by trying to develop a case for Physical Education as

Olympic Education. I begin by setting out various accounts and conceptions of the Olympic Idea; then

I suggest a unifying and organising account of the philosophical anthropology of Olympism; and this

is followed by the practical application of that account in two examples of current ethical issues.

Finally, I seek to present an account of Physical Education as Olympic Education.

17p.64 in Parry, J. (1998b). The Justification of Physical Education. In K. Green, & K. Hardman (eds), Physical

Education - a Reader, Meyer & Meyer, pp. 36-68.


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Hans Lenk

Lenk 23refers to over 30 Olympic aims and values dealt with in his book of the same title as the essay,

including:

values or religious-cultural import

festive, artistic and spiritual planning of the Games

creation of a sporting elite

ideas relating to performance (competition, records, etc)

equality of opportunity (the equal starting position)

reference to the Greek iea of agonistic activity

fair play

the ancient iea of a truce, an the Olympic Movements peaceful mission

making the Movement international and independent

the desire to give the Games the character of the host country

the value of amateurism

sweeping aside all cultural, racial, national, religious and social barriers

uniting all forms of sport on an equal footing at Olympia

relating the ancient meaning of the Games to their modern form

regulating sporting life by looking towards the Olympic Games periodically

the beneficial effects of the example of Olympic competitors

the incentive provided by the possibility of participating in the Games.

However, since this list was in part derived from a questionnaire, it is not clear what status any of

these suggestions might have - they may be nothing more than the subjective impressions and

opinions of individual athletes, administrators, etc..

Ommo Grupe

Grupe 24addresses de Coubertins peagogical concept of Olympism which, he says, was base on

five points:

Unity of mind and body

It is true that de Coubertin emphasised unity and harmony of mind and body - but he held a more

differentiated view :

... there are not two parts to a man - body and soul: there are three - body, mind andcharacter; character is not formed by the mind, but primarily by the body. The men of

antiquity knew this, and we are painfully relearning it.25

23p.206 in Lenk, H. (1964). Values, Aims, Reality of the Modern Olympic Games. Proceedings of the

International Olympic Academy, Ancient Olympia, Greece, pp. 204-211.24

Grupes title is in quotation marks because it was taken (without attribution) from a letter of e Coubertins(1918c, Letter IV, p55): Olympism is not a system; it is a state of min. Grupe, O. (1997). Olympism is Not aSystem, it is a State of Mind. Olympic Review, Feb/Mar, XXV, pp. 63-65.25

de Coubertin, P. (1894b). Athletics in the Modern World and the Olympic Games . In Carl-Diem-Institut (Ed.),The Olympic Idea: Pierre de CoubertinDiscourses and Essays. Stuttgart: Olympischer Sportverlag, 1966, pp. 7-10.


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And later:26

I prefer to harness a foursome and to distinguish not only body and soul, ... but muscles,

intelligence, character and conscience.

This is important, showing not only a concern for the whole person, but also for the relation between

sport and moral education, and the role of properly designed physical activity in characterdevelopment. De Coubertin often made the point that Olympism seeks to promote moral sport and

moral education through sport. Referring to the UK school reforms of 1840, he says: 27

In these reforms physical games and sports hold, we may say, the most prominent place: the

muscles are made to do the work of a moral educator. It is the application to modern

requirements of one of the most characteristic principles of Greek civilisation: to make the

muscles the chief factor in the work of moral education.

However, we should notice that de Coubertin's ideas of the whole person do not have a deep

philosophical basis, being based in a simple dualism, and need to be rethought and reformulated, in

order to be a proper basis for further ideas (as attempted, for example, in Martinkova, 2007)28

2. Self-improvement (developing ones abilities)

This is a motif often found in de Coubertin's works - effort leading to excellence. However, Hans Lenk

ha alreay pointe out that the Olympic motto citius, altius, fortius(swifter, higher, stronger) may

lead us astray, given the dangers for humaneness of the constant striving for records, and the

attendant dangers of cheating, political exploitation and commercialism 29. Such self-improvement

should be seen as one-dimensional, and therefore inconsistent with Olympic holism. Grupe also

warns of toays angers, and asserts that we need a new definition and a new legitimacy. On his

account, Olympism today is about a wider conception of self-improvement - through education, self-

fulfilment and effort - in the wider context of fairness, peace, toleration, anti-discrimination, and

sport for all.

3. Amateurism - with its connotations of nobility and chivalry

It is true that de Coubertin held to a certain concept of amateurism, relating to out motives for

engaging in sport.30However, de Coubertin was critical of the kind of social inequality sometimes

reinforced by assumptions and practices related to class privilege in discussions of the value of

amateurism.

26de Coubertin, P. (1918b). Olympic Letters III, 26 Oct 1918. In Carl-Diem-Institut (Ed.), The Olympic Idea: Pierre

de CoubertinDiscourses and Essays. Stuttgart: Olympischer Sportverlag, 1966, p. 54.27

p.11 in de Coubertin, P. (1896). The Olympic Games of 1896. In Carl-Diem-Institut (Ed.), The Olympic Idea:

Pierre de CoubertinDiscourses and Essays. Stuttgart: Olympischer Sportverlag, 1966, pp. 10-14.28

Martinkova, I. (2004). Harmony of the Human Being. In Macura, Duan & Hosta, Milan (Es.). Philosophy ofSport and Other Essays. Ljubljana: Faculty of Sport, University of Ljubljana & Eleventh Academy, 2004, p. 235-

238.29

Grupe tells us that Lenk ha ae humanius - but actually, at this reference, Lenk also includes pulchrius(more beautiful) to correspon to the five Olympic rings (1982b, p.228).30

Martinkova, I. (2007). The Ethics of Human Performance. In 7

th

International Session for Educators andOfficials of Higher Institutes of Physical Education 20-27 July 2006. Proceedings. Ancient Olympia: International

Olympic Academy and International Olympic Committee, 2007, pp. 48-57.


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For example, he fulminates against the English of Englan, an on their heels the English of the

Dominions, alleging against them:

A good sports club in their eyes continues to be a club in which the members are gentlemen

on the same level. That was the first condition. They have not succeeded in freeing

themselves from it. That is why, in rowing for example, they formerly declared every manual

worker a professional. The university rowers wished to preserve in this way the aristocratic

hall-mark of their favourite sport. It took a long time to put an end in theory to such medieval

legislation. When it will disappear in practice no-one knows.31

De Coubertin certainly looked favourably upon medieval notions of chivalry, though, suggesting that

such an ideology of honour pre-figured modern notions of fair play. So popular were tournaments

and some folk games that the Church had to tolerate them for some time:

It is certain that the sporting spirit could easily have developed in Europe in the Middle Ages.

But feudalism repressed it, and as soon as the Church became detached from Chivalry it

returned to its distrust of physical culture, in which it appeared to descry a dangerous

forerunner of free thought.32

The final two elements discerned by Grupeare discussed in detail elsewhere - Fairness, and fair play

in Chapter 3; and Peace, shortly below.

Pierre de Coubertin

Now let us remind ourselves of the considered ideas of the founder of the modern Olympic

Movement, Pierre e Coubertin. His mature article The Philosophical Founations of Moern

Olympism 33clarifies the idea of Olympism. It is:

A religion of sport (the religio athletae).

I was right to create from the outset, around the renewed Olympism, a religious sentiment

(transformed and widened by Internationalism, Democracy and Science)... This is the origin of

all the rites which go to make the ceremonies of the modern Games.34

Roesch, however, argues that this is to misunderstand the nature of the religious life:

Religious life and cultic expressions take part in other forms and contents, such as gesture,

attitude, ritual dance, prayer, speech and rites. The individual athlete, no matter what his

religion, denomination or ideology, lives and acts, according to his religious conviction as a

Christian, Moslem, Buddhist, Jew and so on ... Olympism cant take the place of that.35

31p.94 in de Coubertin, P. (1924). Amateurism at the Prague Congress. In Carl-Diem-Institut (Ed.), The Olympic

Idea: Pierre de CoubertinDiscourses and Essays. Stuttgart: Olympischer Sportverlag, 1966, pp. 93-95.32

p.46 in de Coubertin, P. (1918a). What We Can Now Ask of Sport. In Carl-Diem-Institut (Ed.), The Olympic

Idea: Pierre de CoubertinDiscourses and Essays. Stuttgart: Olympischer Sportverlag, 1966, pp. 43-51.33

de Coubertin, P. (1935). The Philosophic Foundations of Modern Olympism. . In Carl-Diem-Institut (Ed.), The

Olympic Idea: Pierre de CoubertinDiscourses and Essays. Stuttgart: Olympischer Sportverlag, 1966, pp. 130-134.34

p.131 in de Coubertin, P. (1935). The Philosophic Foundations of Modern Olympism. . In Carl-Diem-Institut

(Ed.), The Olympic Idea: Pierre de CoubertinDiscourses and Essays. Stuttgart: Olympischer Sportverlag, 1966,

pp. 130-134.35 p.199 in Roesch, H.-E. (1979). Olympism and Religion. Proceedings of the International Olympic Academy,

Ancient Olympia, Greece, pp. 192-205.


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Roesch 36calls the ritual elements of Olympism consciously create by e Coubertin pseuo-cultic

expressions, and he proposes four central values of Olympism, which seem to be entirely secular:

freedom, fairness, friendship, peace.

This insistence on the secular nature of Olympic values seems to me entirely correct; but Roesch

creates his contrast only by failing to take account of what e Coubertin means by religion, an ofwhat he repeately says about the religio athletae.37Again, the core of e Coubertins concern here

is the moralvalue of sport.

An aristocracy, an elite (but egalitarian and meritocratic)

This is a source of some difficulty for de Coubertin. On the one hand, he wanted to insist that sport

was a meritocratic equaliser, in which the winners were the product of a transparently equal contest,

which bestowed upon them the status of 'natural' aristocracy of talent, ability and merit. On the

other hand, the structures of the IOC were based on another kind of aristocracy, which persists to

this day. The IOC is an appointed group, not a democratically elected group; and a large fraction of its

members are social aristocrats (whether or not they are sporting aristocrats, too).

Truce (the temporary cessation of quarrels, disputes and misunderstandings) andPeace, promoted

by mutual respect based on mutual understanding.

Truce was the basis of the ancient Olympic Games. The Greek Empire, which meant most of the

known world at the time, was united in language, religion and ethics and yet there was constant

warfare amongst the different races and cities. It became necessary, then, to institute the

'ekecheiria', or truce, which guaranteed to all Greeks a meeting at a neutral religious site and

competition under conditions of fairness, with justly administered rules.

Modern Olympism claims to further peace and international understanding, and it draws on the

authority of such an alleged classical model. During the ancient Games, it is said, there was a general

laying-down of arms all over Greece. However, some writers have objected that this constitutes not

peace, but only truce38

. Furthermore, we should notice that the concept of truce is logically

dependant on that of war, or conflict, since a truce is something that happens betweenhostilities,

not instead of them. In ancient times, truce did not put an end to war - it simply ensured that the

Games took place even if there was war.

However, we could argue that Olympia, with its mystic ceremonies, suspension of hostilities and

gatherings of thousands on neutral territory, actually helped to neutralised political discord and led

to the development of a common consciousness linking all Greek tribes 39. In the same way, it might

be thought, the modern Olympic Games might stand as an example of global interaction and inter-

communication that might lead to a common consciousness based on ideas of peace and

36 p.201 in Roesch, H.-E. (1979). Olympism and Religion. Proceedings of the International Olympic Academy,

Ancient Olympia, Greece, pp. 192-205.37

This is such an important theme, with consequences for the development of a morally educative sport, that it

deserves separate consideration; and I intend to address it elsewhere.38

p.16 in Lmmer, M. (1982). The Peace Philosophy of the Olympic Movement: a historical perspective

(Stadion, 1982, vol 2, pp.13-19)39p.210 in Palaeologis, C. (1965). The Institution of the Truce in the Ancient Olympic Games. Report of the 5th

Session of the International Olympic Academy, pp. 203-210.


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internationalism. De Coubertin wanted to harness and extend these ideas to a modern concern with

world peace, which Samaranche would later ally to the central mission of the United Nations, and the

IOC would develop into the International Olympic Truce Foundation.

Rhythm (the Olympiad)

The origins of the Games are shrouded in myth and historical construal. But let us simply record

Gariners conclusions:

The Olympic festival was a festival of lustration (purification) marking the beginning and

afterwards the middle point of a Great Year of eight years. It was a festival of Zeus, the

predominant god of the district ... His festival was a cessation from arms; ... Games were held

at which only free-born warriors of the tribes might compete. The season of the festival was

early autumn, a season of rest from agricultural work ...40

So, the Olympic calendar followed a rhythmic pattern dictated by astronomical observations and the

cycle of seasons, celebrating the most significant points in the rhythm. This accounts for the four-

yearly cycle of the Olympic Games, which seems to add to its significance amongst those very many

annually-recurring competitions and events.

The Young Adult Male Individual

De Coubertin held what now seem to have been very reactionary attitudes towards women's

participation in sport, an especially in the Olympic Games. It follows from what I have sai that the

true Olympic hero is in my view the adult male iniviual,41who alone should be able to enter the

Altis, or sacred enclosure. This means that team games will be at best secondary, taking place outside

the moern Altis (... fittingly honoure, but in the secon rank.). It also means that women coul

also take part here if it is juge necessary, although e Coubertin himself thought that they ha noplace even in the second rank. He says:

I personally do not approve of the participation of women in public competitions, which is

not to say that they must abstain from practising a great number of sports, provided they do

not make a public spectacle of themselves. In the Olympic Games, as in the contests of former

times, their primary role should be to crown the victors.41

He is at least consistent on this:

As to the admission of women to the Games, I remain strongly against it. It was against my

will that they were admitted to a growing number of competitions.42

And even towards the end of his life:I still think that contact with feminine athletics is bad for him (the modern athlete) and that

these athletics should be excluded from the Olympic programme.43

40p.76 in Gardiner, N. E. (1925). Athletics of the Ancient World. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

41p.133 in de Coubertin, P. (1935). The Philosophic Foundations of Modern Olympism. . In Carl-Diem-Institut

(Ed.), The Olympic Idea: Pierre de CoubertinDiscourses and Essays. Stuttgart: Olympischer Sportverlag, 1966,pp. 130-134.42

p. 106 in de Coubertin, P. (1928). Message .. to the athletes .. of the IX

th

Olympiad. In Carl-Diem-Institut (Ed.),The Olympic Idea: Pierre de CoubertinDiscourses and Essays. Stuttgart: Olympischer Sportverlag, 1966, pp.105-106.


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There are very important corollaries of this kind of statement. For example, those who simply

isparage the Muslim octrine of separate but equal evelopment shoul notice the echoes of that

view in e Coubertins work, in the practice of the Ancient Olympics, an in the eucational ieology

of single-sex schooling throughout Europe. And those who, on other issues, call upon the authority of

the thought of de Coubertin or of ancient practices to support their views, should notice that such

authority oes not necessarily erive from justifiable principle, an oes not necessarily support

their other views.

Beauty - artistic and literary creation

De Coubertin sought to create a relationship between sport and culture, and promoted early versions

of what we would now call the Cultural Olympiad, as well as competitions in the arts, including

poetry, painting and architecture. This interest also resulted in such developments as the opening,

closing and medal ceremonies, the torch relay, and intellectual manifestations organised around the

Games, so as to promote civilisation, truth, and human dignity, as well as ... international

relations.

44

Participation and competition.

de Coubertin, said in London at the close of the 1908 Games:

Last Sunday, in the course of the ceremony organised at St Pauls in honour of the athletes,

the bishop of Pennsylvania recalled this in felicitous words: the important thing in these

Olympiads (sic) 45is less to win than to take part in them. ... Gentlemen, let us bear this

potent word in mind. It extends across every domain to form the basis of a serene and healthy

philosophy. The important thing in life is not victory but struggle; the essential is not to have

won but to have fought well.46

In saying this, de Coubertin gave credit to the bishop for a sentiment that was often on his own lips.

Fourteen years earlier he is quoted as exhorting an audience at the Parnassus Club in Athens to

support the revival of the Games, and:

... not to let their enthusiasm be cooled by the thought that they might be beaten by

strangers. Dishonour, he said, would not lie in defeat, but in failure to take part.47

43p.129 in de Coubertin, P. (1934). Forty Years of Olympism (1894/1934). In Carl-Diem-Institut (Ed.), The

Olympic Idea: Pierre de CoubertinDiscourses and Essays. Stuttgart: Olympischer Sportverlag, 1966, pp. 126-130.44

pp.133-134 in de Coubertin, P. (1935). The Philosophic Foundations of Modern Olympism. . In Carl-Diem-

Institut (Ed.), The Olympic Idea: Pierre de CoubertinDiscourses and Essays. Stuttgart: OlympischerSportverlag, 1966, pp. 130-134.45

We are working at secon an thir han here, but if this is an accurate recor of e Coubertins report ofthe bishops wors, then one of them has faile to hee e Coubertins warning against confusing an Olympiawith its Games (see the second paragraph of the second section of this paper).46

pp.19-20 in de Coubertin, P. (1908). The Trustees of the Olympic Idea. In Carl-Diem-Institut (Ed.), TheOlympic Idea: Pierre de CoubertinDiscourses and Essays. Stuttgart: Olympischer Sportverlag, 1966, pp. 18-20.47

p.10 in de Coubertin, P. (1894b). Athletics in the Modern World and the Olympic Games . In Carl-Diem-Institut (Ed.), The Olympic Idea: Pierre de CoubertinDiscourses and Essays. Stuttgart: OlympischerSportverlag, 1966, pp. 7-10.


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Avery Brundage

Just to show how things change over a very short period of time, consider the views expressed by the

former President of the IOC, Avery Brundage, in terms that remained fairly standard (although under

threat) into the 1980s:48

The first and most important of these rules, for good reasons, was that the Games must be

amateur. They are not a commercial enterprise and no one, promoters, managers, coaches,

participants, individuals or nations, is permitted to use them for profit.49

The Olympic Games were revived by the Baron de Coubertin, Brundage says, to:50

bring to the attention of the world the fact that a national program of physical training and

competitive sport will not only develop stronger and healthier boys and girls but also, and

perhaps more important, will make better citizens through the character building that follows

participation in properly administered amateur sport;

demonstrate the principles of fair play and good sportsmanship, which could be adopted withgreat advantage in many other spheres of activity;

stimulate interest in the fine arts through exhibitions and demonstrations, and thus

contribute to a broader and more well rounded life;

teach that sport is play for fun and enjoyment and not to make money, and that with

devotion to the task at hand the reward will take care of itself; the philosophy of amateurism

as contrasted to that of materialism;

create international amity and good will, thus leading to a happier and more peaceful world.

48 p.30 in Brundage, A. (1963). The Olympic Philosophy. Proceedings of the International Olympic Academy,

Ancient Olympia, Greece, pp. 29-39.49

This souns a very strange sentence these ays! But Brunages obsessive anti-commercialism was rigorouslyapplie, especially in the case of the iniviual athlete, an rew the sobriquets Slavery Avery an Bonage

Brunage.50 p.39 in Brundage, A. (1963). The Olympic Philosophy. Proceedings of the International Olympic Academy,

Ancient Olympia, Greece, pp. 29-39.


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The Philosophical Anthropology of Olympism

What are we to make of this bewildering welter of ideas, offered by various writers as values, aims,

goals or principles of Olympism, the Olympic Movement or the Olympic Games? The ideas so far

presented are highly suggestive, but they are not systematic or coherent, and I have been able to

discuss only a fraction of them, and only at a relatively superficial level. We need to try to find a way

to organise our thoughts in relation to all these ideas in order, if possible, to pull them together into

a framework that renders some version of them systematic and coherent.

Let us return to the idea of Olympism as a social, political and educational philosophy. Any such

philosophy necessarily appeals to a philosophical anthropology - an idealised conception of the

human being towards which the ideology strives in its attempted social reproduction of the

individual. Social anthropology is the investigation of whole cultures, which are preferably, from the

point of view of the researcher, quite alien to the researchers own society51. A social anthropologist

investigates the living instantiations of human nature - the quite different kinds of human nature that

are to be found around the world - practically, scientifically, through observation and social scientific

methodology.

A philosophical anthropologist, however, tries to create a theory about human nature by thinking

about the human being at the most general level. Hoberman52

writes about the differing political

conceptions of sport, but finds it necessary to refer to several levels of explanation and theorising:

(Different societies) ... have distinct political anthropologies or idealised models of the

exemplary citizen which constitute complex answers to the fundamental question of

philosophical anthropology: What is a human being?

He quotes John F Kenney as a representative of centrist neo-Hellenism:... the same civilisation which produced some of our highest achievements of philosophy and

drama, government and art, also gave us a belief in the importance of physical soundness

which has become a part of Western tradition; from the mens sana in corpore sano of the

Romans to the British belief that the playing fields of Eton brought victory on the battlefields

of Europe.5354

In order to try to fill out just what were the ideas that have been handed

2012 Brownell & Parry - Olympic Values and Ethics in Contemporary Society_240712

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