A Problem in the Recognition of Body Theory in Sport Sociology
To Seek the Potential for a Physics' Approach
2008 Volume 16 Pages 71-86
Details
2008 Volume 16 Pages 71-86
The purpose of this paper is to show the characteristics of body theory from the perspective of sport sociology and to seek the potential of a physics' approach to body theory through examining the problems of the meta-physics' concept.
To achieve this purpose, the characteristics of body theory from the perspective of sport sociology and the expectations for the theory when sport sociologists held the first congress of the Japan Society of Sport Sociology (JSSS) in 1991, were reviewed. Secondly, some perspectives for body based on sociology of physical education and theory from the viewpoint of historical sociology were discussed. Finally, we try to seek the potential of physics' approach in body theory which is different from sport sociological perspective at this moment, recognizing the problem of formation and expectation for body, that is, meta-physics' concept.
In consequence, the characteristics of body theory in sport sociology have been showed as redundant humanism, emphasizing the concept of human culture and society as the same meaning, which resulted from the concept of sport as a part of the culture and social system. In the background, it was pointed out that the sociology and theory of physical education has presumed an educated human body as the perspective, and that sociology in itself has expected the body as humanism to oppose structuralism and functionalism and sought the body to take the place of the mind. Typically such a perspective of body theory in sport sociology, leads to be mainly emphasized as phenomenological methodology which stressed the subjective of body. But we think the unconscious and automatic paradigm formation of body in sport sociological perspective is strongly criticized. So, as one of the key perspectives to resolve this problem, we suggested the potential of a physics' approach to body theory and asked for change in the previous body theory to discover a new perspective for social problems of contemporary sports phenomena.
