Defiance in sport

ABSTRACT

This article examines the role and value of defiance in sport. I argue that defiance is a virtue in sport and make a case for it as a spirited and praiseworthy way of counteracting burdened conditions. To do this, I distinguish between three forms of defiance: 1) ascetic defiance as persistent practising to overcome limits and outdo difficulty, 2) agonistic defiance as intensified efforts to counteract and overcome opponents, and 3) rebellious defiance as counteracting unjust authority. These describe ways in which athletes can counteract burdens in sport, and for each dimension, I present examples from sport to illustrate the relevance of defiance for this particular area. I conclude that defiance is at the heart of the sporting practice and that it is virtuous when enacted towards the right things, at the right time, in the right way and towards the right ends. I round off by briefly pointing to areas for further studies of defiance in sport.

KEYWORDS:

• Defiance
• virtue ethics
• thumos
• practising
• competition
• rebellion

Acknowledgments

I want to thank several participants at the IAPS conference in September 2019 for valuable feedback after I presented an earlier version of the analysis. I also thank John Russell for a critical reading of an early draft of the article, which helped to improve it significantly.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. There are various versions and interpretations of the myth of Prometheus. See McNamee (2008, 202–205) for a comparison of Hesiod’s and Aeschylus’s accounts and a discussion of them related to sport.

2. Adler (2003) was among the first to analyse the problems of defiance in his 1910 essay on Defiance and Obedience. Since DSM-III in 1980, oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) has been a diagnosis for severe and persistent defiant behaviour.

3. https://www.newyorker.com/sports/sporting-scene/wimbledon-2019-kyrgios-vs-nadal-and-the-difference-between-an-entertainer-and-a-champion.

4. According to Harris (2009, 92), Plato seems to say that thumus-anger or ‘noble anger’ (thumos gennaios) is necessary against wrongdoing in his work Laws. He also notes that Nemesius, bishop of Emesa, described thumos-anger as the bodyguard (doruphorikos) of reason, and that Plutarch saw thumos-anger as a mark of greatness in action (megalourgia). However, as Harris also notes, it is notoriously difficult to distinguish between the two forms of anger in ancient philosophy, and the difference between orgē and thumos remains unresolved in Aristotle.

5. The reflections here suggest some ways that defiance can exist in unity with other virtues. Defiant spiritedness may help and sustain the enactment of courage, and even temper may help in guiding the anger involved in defiant acts. Similarly, I think that the virtue of resilience, understood as the ability to adapt positively to significant adversity (Russell 2015), can describe a valuable background, perhaps even a prerequisite, for the enactment of defiance.

6. See Harris (2009, 16 and 268) for a brief discussion of athumos. It translates into ‘spiritless’, but he also describes that it can mean ‘despondent’, ‘faintheartedness’ and something close to ‘lack of courage’.

7. See Harris (2009, 162 and 345). He translates oxuthumos into both harsh-spirited and irascibility. Allen (2000, 210 and 231) uses the terms ‘sharp anger’ and ‘hot-tempered’ as translations of oxuthumos.

8. In his analysis, Hoberman (1997) subsequently describes how scientific and pharmacological influences in modern elite sport have complicated the athletic agon in various ways that often threaten the health of athletes. This concern is related to the worries about biomedicine and biotechnology discussed earlier. It is not clear, however, which version of the myth of Prometheus Hoberman refers to.

9. See: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001010392/article/tom-brady-after-pats-rout-everyone-thinks-we-suck. I want to thank Paul Gaffney for pointing out this example to me.

10. After his confrontation with a spectator, Djokovic said ‘Even, maybe he didn’t want to do me a favor, he did me a favor. Big favor.’ Medvedev thanked the boing spectators and said: ‘Your energy tonight gave me the win.’ https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/30/sports/tennis/us-open-results-schedule.html. I thank Pam Sailors for making me aware of these cases.

11. It is worth noting here that Aristotle (2004, 1135b) described anger as an appropriate response to apparent injustice.

12. A recent documentary has revealed mistreatment of young Danish swimmers from 2003–2012 by national coaches who, for example, forced swimmers to weigh in front of others. Several swimmers describe that they developed eating disorders, depression and other related conditions due to this coaching behaviour. For an English summary of the case, see https://swimswam.com/danish-swim-federation-under-fire-for-mid-2000s-public-weighings/.