Sports are a form of physical activity that involves both skill and exertion, often undertaken competitively. They are usually governed by a set of rules or customs, which serve to ensure fair competition and allow consistent adjudication of the winner.
The concept of sport is a cultural field of activity, in which people voluntarily enter into a relationship with others, in order to compare their respective abilities and skills in the art of movement – according to self-imposed or adopted rules and on the basis of socially accepted ethical values.
This definition also allows us to distinguish between ‘organised sports’ (such as football, golf, tennis, cricket, and rugby) and ‘unorganised sports’, such as fishing, dance, or cheerleading. Organised sports involve a structured competitive structure with clear rules, whereas unorganised sports are a form of leisure activities, and may not have any structured competitive structure.
Traditionally, philosophers have viewed the nature of sport through either descriptive or normative theories. Descriptive theories seek to explain the fundamental concepts of sport, while normative theories provide an account of how sport should be.
On the one hand, descriptive theories rely on empirical evidence and seek to develop an accurate picture of the physical and psychological processes associated with the act of practicing or watching sports. On the other hand, normative theories attempt to account for the ways in which sporting practices are shaped by larger social phenomena such as commodification and hegemony.
A common view in the philosophy of sport is that the intrinsic principles of sport revolve around the pursuit of excellence, rather than a direct connection to victory. This approach is based on the work of Alasdair MacIntyre, who argues that sport is an arena for cultivation of excellence rather than a zero-sum game.