O dveh pogledih na šport

Abstract

The article looks at different understandings of human being and their implications for the understanding of sport. One of the fundamental shifts in the understanding of human being occurs in the transition from the ancient to modern times. The main characteristic of the ‘classical’ view of the human being is its teleological character: we know fully what something is only when we know what it is like in its final perfection. This is diametrically opposed to the axiom which dominates our modern scientific culture: we understand what something is when we know what it is made of and how it came to be. Therefore, the final aim of the ‘classical’ view is perfection of human being, and final aim of the ‘modern’ view is preservation of oneself. This distinction can be used to differentiate two different understandings of contemporary sport. ‘Classical’ sport may be estimated as idealistic and the ‘modern’ as realistic or even pragmatic. The first is based on a teleological understanding of the human being and accordingly sport is also understood as a means to fulfill human being and help him to attain perfection. The basic idea is the same as idea in theories which see sport as an important mean for human education. On the other hand the modern understanding of sport does not see the final aim of sport in perfection of human being, but in self-preservation. This can be recognized in those sport activities which see the aim of sport in the preservation of health, regulation of body weight or anti stress re-creation.