“However, he did not switch to walking”: the experience of a philosophical research of collective endurance running

Abstract

The object of this research is the collective endurance running as a social phenomenon of the XX – XXI centuries. The subject of this research is the spiritual grounds of the person’s choice and the sociocultural components of the existence of collective endurance running viewed in their interrelation. The article leans on the scientific approach and general methodological principles of scientific study, dialectical method, as well as ideas and values of the concept of humanism. The author set the following tasks: determine the social grounds and factors of proliferation endurance running in contemporary history; explore the peculiarities of interaction between running locomotion and unconscious aspect of the personality of amateur athlete; explicate the impact of long-distance running upon metaphysical component of the spiritual world of a “running” person; outline the social needs fulfilled by cultivation and propaganda of the positive impact of long-distance running practices; determine the problematic field of the “philosophy of running”. The novelty of this work lies in description of the worldview foundations of running activity of the amateur long-distance runners. These foundations are viewed as the main reason for proliferation of endurance running in modern society, as well as the semantic core of the problematic field of the “philosophy of running”. The metaphysical component of mentality of the “running” person via a long running effort goes back to the transcendent beginning of its existence; amateur endurance running provides selection of the most effective adaptive skills; forms an autotelic personality oriented towards the mode of “being”, rather than “possessing”; serves as a component of environmental movements and charity campaigns, a form of socialization of people with impairments; has a powerful educational potential. Being the basis of most athletic movements, running can be viewed as the “initial cell” that determines the impact of sport practices upon the human mind and body, as well as the current stage of social development. In relation to a human, such impact can be described by the word “kalokagathia”, while in relation to society – by the terms “humanism” "and “democracy”.