A Study of the Structure of Sport as a Cultural Form

A Study based on E. Cassirer's Philosophy

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to clarify the direction to understand the structure of sport as a cultural form. The following steps were adopted as the necessary procedure to attain this purpose;
1) To verify the appropriateness of eliminating value-oriented ranks among cultural forms while studying the nature of each cultural form.
2) To examine the difficulties in considering the structure of sport as a culture from the viewpoint of the concepts of culture so far adopted, and to develop a new standpoint to see the structure of sport through this examination.
3) To find out the direction to understand the structure of sport based on this new standpoint.
In order to attain the purpose, the frame of E. Cassirer's philosophy was adopted in this study.
Since 1960's there has been a growing tendency to recognize sport as a culture in Japan. This tendency seemed to arise from an intention of enhancing the value of sport to be ranked with other cultural forms. However, it is obvious that all cultural forms have been formulated with close relationships among themselves, and each form has constructed its own constitution which is irreplaceable with another cultural form. Each form exists as a function indispensable to human nature which put meanings on chaotic impression of the world. In other words, they exist only as differences without any value-oriented ranks. Since value is usually set on an object according to a special criterion derived from several human tendencies, we should consider the object itself without its value if we try to study its nature. Therefore, to grasp the nature of a cultural form, it should be examined without consideration of its value-oriented rank.
In Japan, distinctive qualities or administrative characteristics of sport phenomena have been referred to as the structure of sport. However, the structure of sport as a cultural form can not emerge through the study of these apparent aspects of sport since the structure and phenomena exist on different levels.
In sport, skill is objectified as movement styles. Although a movement style phenomenaly disappears according to the end of the performance, it is, in fact, developed to a high degree in the movement subject or in other subjects who come in touch with the movement style. On the phenmenal level, one's skill exists within his organic limitations. His skill is, on the structural level, inherited beyond his organic limitations and will be continuously developed and objectified as new movement styles in sport. In other words, sport has its structure in which objectified skill and its spirit are continuouslly developed in a dialectic system to higher level. And organizational changes on one's organic level will reach to organizational formation of humankind, such as economic system, through sport as a cultural form. Therefore, it seems that sport exists as a function which has its own continuous and creative structure concerned with the nature of humankind.