Sport, game, purposefulness

Abstract

The nature of the connection between sports and games is the
subject of numerous discussions. The theories range from the claim
that every sport is a game (while every game is not a sport) to the
attitudes that abolish any connection between modern sports and
games. The first part of the paper discusses the connection between
sports and games through the analysis of a thesis that claims that
sport is a game. It is pointed to the definitions and demarcations of
the terms sport, game and play, referring to the texts of Bernard H.
Suits, which are critically evaluated. The second part of the paper
examines the issue of the purpose of sport. It discusses the outer
and inner purpose of sport. Special attention is paid to the viewpoints
of “wide internalism” and “historicist conventionalism” and the
thesis that sport is an end in itself. The last part of the text considers
the arguments of Eugen Fink who claims that game is an end
in itself.