Simon Fair Play Analysis

Throughout the entirety of the of Simon’s Fair Play, Ethics of Sport, we touch on a lot of controversial issues that are present in the sport world and by extension issues that are present in our society. "This book is concerned primarily with ethically evaluating principles that people associate with sport and implying that analysis to examine specific issues. Its major focus is the nature of principles and values that should apply to sport". (Simon, p.19) The major points of importance that the text focuses on are: Moral issues of tactical fouling, ethical cheating, reason for deviance in competitive sports, and performance enhancing drugs. Sadly these are all very real issues that we have to deal with in the realm of sport, and all of the
First, the chapter stared by stating that sport played an important role in the lives of American’s. Simon stated that in the athlete’s mind, there is a very critical emphasis on winning the game. Bringing attention to the fact that a lot of decency in sport has gone out the window. Fairness and honesty are lost when it comes to the thought of being competitive. These moral issues in sport concern not only the athletes and fans mindset, but also specific actions. Specifically actions within the context of the game that are deemed legal and in the set of rule, but are seen as tactical cheating. Although the strategies (like diving in the context of soccer), are seen to be fair because they are technically obeying the rules, it shows a huge part of our country's values and morals of the situation. And since what they are doing is technically in line with the rules, no one is able to say that it is actually cheating. The first chapter explains that there is a need to examine these morals. The role of philosophy is essential to clarify the principles on which they are founded on, and subject them to critical examination. We see that issues are due to the fact that competition is infested with a bad mindset that is selfish and that it is not just the essence of competition that we see here. We see Simon discuss the correlation of internal morality and competition in the
“ At first glance competition seems to be the very nature of sport. We speak of sporting events as competitions or contests, evaluate athletes as good or bad competitors or competitors, and refer to other teams as opponents. But perhaps the connection between sports and competition is far looser than these habits suggest. Thus, some can play golf or run a marathon just for the enjoyment of the activity. All sports can be played non competitively.” (Simon, p.50) This disproved the fact that sports are just naturally competitive. It is important to see that there is a conflict between what was originally sport and what is not competition in sport. This competitive aspect is where we are seeing the motivation to tactically cheat or take advantage of the playing rules. The issue is that you are creating an unfair advantage for you or your team. The solution to this is to compete with a sense of respect in a mutual quest for excellence. Through the mindset of knowing that you are out competing for the same reason as the other team is how we will start to see more wholesome game play. “In terms of the mutualist account, winning normally is a major criterion of competitive success but hardly the only one. In a hard fought contest between worthy opponents, both can meet the challenge of competition through