Conduct of Life and Endurance Sport

Abstract

Our aim here (as an academician and a practitioner) is to conceptualize sport integrity and ethics in a broad way to focus on conduct in life. In other words, our intent is to address the question of how we should live, on a day-to-day basis, as endurance athletes. In this paper we will briefly examine the theoretical constructs regarding the transactional nature of endurance sport and ethics. We will do so within the context of the American philosophical tradition. These conceptual themes include the significance of endurance sport for participants; the creation of identity around these pursuits; and the potential ethical issues that arise for the endurance sport enthusiast. In the latter part of the paper we explore potential answers to these questions – broad concepts with possibilities for reaping the benefits of endurance sport participation, while minimizing the negative ethical impact. Our research approach, following the radical empiricism of William James, places a premium on lived experience found in and through endurance sport. We emphasize here the practitioner perspective, a lived experience of sorts, the insights earned through lengthy participation in endurance sport pursuits. To this end, throughout the paper we alternate between formal, scholarly prose and the practitioner perspective.