Surfing and the Philosophy of Sport

This book considers the unique perspective found in the sport of surfing for reconsidering questions in the philosophy of sport. Through the lens of surfing Brennan explores questions of ethics, aesthetics, gender equality, the nature of sport, Olympism, technology, and the good life.

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Surfing and the Philosophy of Sport uses the insights gained through an analysis of the sport of surfing to explore key questions and discourses within the philosophy of sports. As surfing has been practiced dynamically, since its beginnings as a traditional Polynesian pursuit to its current status as a counter-culture lifestyle and also a highly professionalized and commercialized sport that will take part in the Olympic Games, it presents a unique phenomenon in the world of sport from which to reconsider questions about the nature of sport and its role in a flourishing life and society. Daniel Brennan examines the foundational issues about defining sports, their role in conceptualizing the good life, the aesthetic nature of sport, the place of technology in sport, the principles of Olympism and surfing’s embodiment of them, and issues of institutionalized sexism in sport and the effect that might have on athletic performance.