Ethics & the Olympics
February 23, 2010
The Olympic Games are highly valued and considered a very positive engagement between nations.
Are there any connections between Ethics and the Olympics or sports? I believe there are many. Let me name a few.
Sports in general and the Olympic games in particular foster collaboration among participants, athletes and nations. All participants apply the rules that have been universally accepted. It is a good model for society.
A fundamental value in sports is fairness. Without fairness the sports world would not have its raison d’être. This is probably why any attempts in cheating such as using illegal muscle enhancing drugs are treated severely with measures such as disqualification, suspension and fines.
Sports can play a role in Peace bringing. The Greek City-States often at war suspended combats every four years during the Olympic Games. Rabbi Asher Meir of the Business Ethics Center in Jerusalem believes that the origin of sports is as a substitute for combat. He says: “human nations or tribes instinctively recognize that it is sometimes of mutual advantage to resolve a conflict on the playing field instead of the battlefield.” Konrad Lorenz, the Austria animal psychologist and Nobel Laureate, in his book “On Aggression” believed that humans lack inhibitors to aggression and that sports serve as a new outlet for aggression.
Could we imagine of territorial or other conflicts between two nations be resolved not by firepower or military invasion but by a sports event opposing two champions-athletes of the respective nations in conflict?
The idea that a conflict between two nations can be resolved by a one-on-one encounter is not new. In the book of Samuel, we are told of the story of the David and Goliath encounter. The Philistine’s champion, Goliath proposed to the Israelites a one-on-one combat. Goliath said: “choose a man and have him come down to me. If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects, but if I overcome him and kill him you will become our subjects and serve us.” This proposition was an alternative to war.
One may not have any affinity for the pagan symbols and rituals that accompany the Games but most of us admire, not just the astonishing prowess of the athletes but their dedication, perseverance and effort to reach a set goal.
Dedication, perseverance and effort are values we should try to emulate even if our reward or trophy is other than in gold, silver or bronze.
As Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. once said:
“But the moment you turn a corner you see another straight stretch ahead and there comes some further challenge to your ambition.”
Comments (1)
April 6th, 2010 at 3:43 pm Posted by Tommy Nodland
In context with your piece on the Olympics and the significance sports played in politics, is honor dead? Honor, “implies acknowledgment of a person’s right to such respect”.
Granted, there are many different uses of honor, but let us focus on the abovementioned. I would make the argument that our society today is honor free, or that we are indoctrinated to forget the meaning of honor.
Historically, as in your example, national borders could be rewritten after one single battle. Rulers, acting honorably, would accept the outcome, and subject themselves to the realities of their defeat. Substitute generals with politicians, where does honor fit in our society?
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