Sab 634: A Short Note On Ethics In Sports
UNITED STATES SPORTS ACADEMY
ARE ETHICS PREVENTING ATHLETES FROM BECOMING THEIR BEST? ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE BAN ON STEROIDS.
A Class Paper Submitted for
SAB 634
Ethics in Sports
Professor: Dr. Ogden
By:
Michael Baptiste
Daphne, Alabama
January, 2015
Table of Contents
Title Page…………………………………………………………………………………….i
Section I. Introduction to the problem…………………………………………………1 Intention of the paper………………………………………………………..1
Section II. Review of Literature………………………………………………………...2 What are ergogenic aids……………………….…………………………….2 Argument #1 Steroids don’t work……………..…………………………….2 Argument #2 Steroids are dangerous………………………………….…….3 Steroid use ethically compared to tobacco………………….………..3 Steroid use ethically …show more content…
According to David Fairchild, PhD professor of philosophy at Indiana University and opponent of steroids in sports, states without equivocation "[T]he use of performance enhancers is cheating because it violates constitutive rules of the activity. Since such use is cheating, it is wrong and we should expect the disqualification of competitors who are caught doping. This conclusion is established through a simple and straightforward argument. Cheating is the deliberate, knowing, and voluntary violation of certain constitutive rules in order to gain a competitive advantage. Since the violation is knowing, the attempt to gain an advantage is illegitimate and unethical, and the advantage sought is thus unfair. The knowing and voluntary use of proscribed substances is an attempt to gain such an unfair advantage. Some specified performance enhancers, anabolic steroids for example, are listed as proscribed substances in certain sports. The deliberate use of steroids is thus an illegitimate attempt to gain an unfair advantage. We conclude that their use is cheating." (Fairchild, 1992) Fairchild’s entire premise that steroids are unethical is based solely on the rules set forth against them. His argument stems from a decision to ban the substance and not on any medical research. Thus, using his logic, one can conclude that if two seven foot tall adults decided to have a child it would be unethical for him to dominate the sport of basketball because parents knowingly produced a child with the genes to grow to seven feet tall. Henceforth, this would knowingly give him an unfair advantage over the five foot tall individual. Moreover, using this argument, one delves into the area of genetic engineering. Is it ethical through genetic engineering for a women to go to a doctor and virtually pick out the egg and sperm that could yield an amazing athlete and be inseminated? Where is
ARE ETHICS PREVENTING ATHLETES FROM BECOMING THEIR BEST? ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE BAN ON STEROIDS.
A Class Paper Submitted for
SAB 634
Ethics in Sports
Professor: Dr. Ogden
By:
Michael Baptiste
Daphne, Alabama
January, 2015
Table of Contents
Title Page…………………………………………………………………………………….i
Section I. Introduction to the problem…………………………………………………1 Intention of the paper………………………………………………………..1
Section II. Review of Literature………………………………………………………...2 What are ergogenic aids……………………….…………………………….2 Argument #1 Steroids don’t work……………..…………………………….2 Argument #2 Steroids are dangerous………………………………….…….3 Steroid use ethically compared to tobacco………………….………..3 Steroid use ethically …show more content…
According to David Fairchild, PhD professor of philosophy at Indiana University and opponent of steroids in sports, states without equivocation "[T]he use of performance enhancers is cheating because it violates constitutive rules of the activity. Since such use is cheating, it is wrong and we should expect the disqualification of competitors who are caught doping. This conclusion is established through a simple and straightforward argument. Cheating is the deliberate, knowing, and voluntary violation of certain constitutive rules in order to gain a competitive advantage. Since the violation is knowing, the attempt to gain an advantage is illegitimate and unethical, and the advantage sought is thus unfair. The knowing and voluntary use of proscribed substances is an attempt to gain such an unfair advantage. Some specified performance enhancers, anabolic steroids for example, are listed as proscribed substances in certain sports. The deliberate use of steroids is thus an illegitimate attempt to gain an unfair advantage. We conclude that their use is cheating." (Fairchild, 1992) Fairchild’s entire premise that steroids are unethical is based solely on the rules set forth against them. His argument stems from a decision to ban the substance and not on any medical research. Thus, using his logic, one can conclude that if two seven foot tall adults decided to have a child it would be unethical for him to dominate the sport of basketball because parents knowingly produced a child with the genes to grow to seven feet tall. Henceforth, this would knowingly give him an unfair advantage over the five foot tall individual. Moreover, using this argument, one delves into the area of genetic engineering. Is it ethical through genetic engineering for a women to go to a doctor and virtually pick out the egg and sperm that could yield an amazing athlete and be inseminated? Where is