A Study on Competition and Man's Alienation in Sport

from Georg Simmel's cultural-social viewpoint

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to show, by using Georg Simmel's theory of competition, that competition in sport does not cause man's alienation at any rate. For that purpose, first Simmel's concept of competition was identified, and then the relationship between competition in sport and man's alienation was analysed from cultural and social viewpoints.
The conclusions of this study are as follows:
(1) Competition is a type of battle defined by such essential moments as “indirectness/non-violence”, “justice/equality” and “social utility”, It is a sociological concept, and there is no competition in culture as it is. So it is illogical to argue that the competition in sport culture causes man's alienation.
(2) Sport culture is actualized through sport society, which is an interaction of sport performers and others concerned. Competition in sport, as one form of socialization, has no direct connection with the performer's aims or intentions. In other words, it is a value-free concept. So competition in sport society does not cause man's alienation.
(3) Such acts as violence, cheating, etc. do not belong to competition because they do not connote the essential moments of competition. Therefore, it is a logical perversion to argue that competition in sport causes man's alienation because of the occurrences of violence or cheating.
(4) The immediate result of competition in sport is objective achievement of sport performance. The result has no direct connection with man's alienation, but can be a factor of it depending on how the social relations are. However, competition itself must be clearly distinguished from the results of it. So, competition in sport has no causal relationships with man's alienation.
In short, according to Simmel, competition in sport is not the cause of man's alienation in any sense, Therefore we should reject such claims that attribute man's alienation in sport to competition.