Three Standards of Athletic Superiority

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to deepen our understanding of the inherent purpose of sports competitions. In ‘On Winning and Athletic Superiority’, Nicholas Dixon states that the central comparative purpose of an athletic contest is to determine which team or player is superior, or, synonymously, to provide an accurate measure of athletic superiority. Dixon identifies athletic skill as the standard of athletic superiority in competitive sport. However, I argue there are three separate standards of athletic superiority: the demonstration of athletic skill, the achievement of prelusory goal using lusory means, and achievement of superior formal result. This stance responds to Dixon’s argument that failed athletic contests are contests that have not fulfilled the central purpose of competitive sport, because they have been undermined by refereeing errors, cheating, gamesmanship or bad luck. I argue that a failed athletic contest occurs when any of the three standards of athletic superiority conflict.

KEYWORDS:

• athletic superiority
• athletic skills
• competition
• contest
• Nicholas Dixon
• winning

Acknowledgements

Two grants have aided me greatly during the writing process: the first by the Department of Behavioural Sciences and Philosophy, University of Turku, and the second by Turku University Foundation. I wish to thank Juha Räikkä for his comments. I am also grateful for the editor’s effort to make this a better paper and for two anonymous reviewers’ comments.

Notes

1. SIMON, ROBERT L. 1991. Fair Play: Sports, Values, and Society. Boulder, CO: Westview Press