The Ground of “Should Be” in Sport World

Through Hans Jonas' Theory of Responsibility

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to make the mechanism of sport ethics explicit, referring to the relationship between sport world and the world in general.
There lies a difficult problem in the relation between “be” and “should be, ” which moral philosophers must deal with. Though we find various kinds of theories for that, this study takes Hans Jonas' stand. He looks upon the present situation as the crisis of human existence with the environmental disruption resulting from the development of technology. So he asserts that “be” take precedence over “should be” because human beings must exist before we argue on what human beings should be. He also asserts that one way, inter-generational, distant and collective responsibility shold be more important than reciprocal, contemporary, direct and personal one. Accordingly, “be” takes precedence over “should be” in the world in general.
How is it in sport world then? In this case, too, sport world must exist before we argue on what should be in sport world. The idea that sport activities are intrinsically good has gone now and we must consider surroundings much more consciously. The world in general must continue to exist in order that sport world can exist. In conclusion, the mechanism of sport ethics must aim not to harm anyone in the world in general. This is the reason for sport world to exist.