2013 Volume 21 Issue 2 Pages 15-30
The objectives of this paper is to shed a light on the question regarding what is the pitfall of the body and sports in the modern era by taking a broad historical perspective into the reexamination of the issue.
For this purpose, this paper first briefly overviews the elemental form of learning and body in GreekRoman period, when the unique character of Western Civilization was formed. In that period, the erotic relations in ecstasies were considered to have a function of education, which deepens one’s knowledge about the world. Second, this study will show that in medieval era the chivalry, as a unique product of interaction between feudal ethics and Christian thought, created and spread out the idea that only by going beyond trials and suffering one can attain romance and happiness. The concept of education as a process of perseverance emerged during this period. Third, in the transition from feudalism to modernity, the conception that the true and pure moral attitude rests upon identification of social duty as one’s inner desire was passed down. The conception gave rise to the legitimacy of modern state’s imperative to discipline body of individual, which was regarded as the most “private” sphere of life. Fourth, this study reveals that it is the modernity that redefined the world of sports which had been limited status culture of knight class as the universal and idealized body culture. As a result, the core idea of the modern education that it was necessary to create the spontaneous motivation in inside of individuals came into being. This led to the transformation of the social function of sports from creating mutual respects among unequal players to producing hierarchical orders through the competitions among equal players.
Through the above-mentioned discussion, this article argues that the problem of sports and education in modern and contemporary society has its roots in the pre-modern ages, and that we need a broad and historical perspective to solve the problems and to liberate body and education.
