IDO MOVEMENT FOR CULTURE

The author negates doubts questioning the existence of the philosophy of sport, since he is of an opinion that the existence of that discipline in its institutional/functional sense cannot be ques­tioned. It functions as a subject of teaching and research in academic institutions and research centres (like, for example, the Polish Academy of Sciences). It does not fulfil, however, require­ments from the fields of general methodology and specific methodologies concerning autonomy and maturity which should characterize any academic discipline. Its subject has not been fully defined yet. It is only at the initial stage, at the beginning of the way of its development. In this respect it uses and, in an applicatory sense, refers to achievements of general philosophy (its branches) and of specific philosophies. Relatively, in comparison to other philosophical disciplines, its achievements are skimpy. It also lacks subject-related self-consciousness; that is, meta-scientific perception, meta-philosophical reflection on itself. Concluding, it may be proclaimed that the philosophy of sport, both in the content-related and methodological sense, remains rather at the stage of philosophical reflection on sport instead of being the philosophy of sport in the strict sense of the word. On the other hand, in the academic milieu the discussed discipline is treated, because of functional and organizational reasons, as the philosophy of sport. All specific philosophies – which primarily were only philosophical reflections on law, biology, medicine, etc. – were over-ambitiously called the philosophy of law, the philosophy of biology or the philosophy of medicine. Only later, as a result of further development, they transformed into fully autonomous and mature specific philosophies. The same applies also to the philosophy of sport.

The paper is a polemics against Prof. Stanisław Kowalczyk’s paper /Does the Philosophy of Sport Exist?/.