Pragmatism and the Philosophy of Sport explores the philosophical significance of sport the phenomenological experience, the training, coaching, and the competition from a uniquely pragmatic angle of vision. The philosophical insights of John Dewey, William James, C.S. Peirce, Jane Addams, and Josiah Royce shed new light on the meaning of the physical practices that take place on our soccer fields, national arenas, backyards, and playgrounds. Interestingly, a close examination of these contemporary practices allows us to understand a wide array of ethical, epistemological and metaphysical commitments that the American pragmatic tradition has articulated for more than a century. Pragmatisms insistence that truth be embodied in the practical consequences of everyday life, its balancing of communal and individual purposes, its emphasis on the role of chance and spontaneity in experience resonate with the findings of modern kinesiology and sport science.

Douglas Anderson is a professor of philosophy at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. He is the author of a variety of books and articles on the formation of the American pragmatic canon, most recentlyConversations on Peirce (Fordham University Press, 2012), co-authored with Carl Hausman. He has also written extensively on the intersection of culture and philosophy in Philosophy Americana (Fordham University, 2006).

John Kaag is an assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. He is the author ofIdealism, Pragmatism and Feminism(Lexington Press, 2011)and a number of articles on the history of the American philosophical tradition.

Richard Lally is an associate professor in the sport studies department at Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania. His writing and teaching focus on the topics of leadership, values and ethics-based decision making in sport.

About the Cover Photo
Introduction: Pragmatism and the Seasoned Practitioner Richard Lally
Chapter 1: Process and the Sport ExperienceDouglas R. Hochstetler
Chapter 2: Peircean Reflections on the Personality of a Fútbol ClubDaniel Campos
Chapter 3: Paddling in the Stream of ConsciousnessJohn Kaag
Chapter 4: Running in Place: Significance on the Treadmill?Doug Hochstetler
Chapter 5: Where Should LeBrons Loyalty Lie? Where Should Ours?Mathew A. Foust
Chapter 6: Agapastic CoachingTim Elcombe
Chapter 7: Gender, Sports and the Ethics of TeammatesBrent Crouch
Chapter 8: Dick Butkus, Pragmatism, and Performance ArtDouglas Anderson
Chapter 9: Towards a Somatic Sport FeminismJoan Grassbaugh Forry
Chapter 10: Living the InjuryJill Tracey
Chapter 11: Deweyan Pragmatism and Self-CultivationRichard Lally