Why ‘Meaningful Competition’ is not fair competition

IF 1.2 3区哲学 Q3 ETHICS

Journal of the Philosophy of Sport Pub Date : 2023-01-02 DOI:10.1080/00948705.2023.2167720

Jon Pike

{"title":"Why ‘Meaningful Competition’ is not fair competition","authors":"Jon Pike","doi":"10.1080/00948705.2023.2167720","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT In this paper I discuss a new conception that has arrived relatively recently on the scene, in the context of the debate over the inclusion of transwomen (hereafter TW) in female sport. That conception is ‘Meaningful Competition’ (hereafter MC) – a term used by some of those who advocate for the inclusion of TW in female sport if and only if they reduce their testosterone levels. I will argue that MC is not fair. I understand MC as a substitute concept, as an attempt to substitute for the perfectly serviceable concept of fair competition. It is an attempt at conceptual engineering that should be resisted. This is important because some International Federations have accepted MC as good coin, and the underlying theory of MC, which I explicate for the first time, underpins the stance taken by the IOC (International Olympic Committee) in its Framework Document. To establish that the inclusion of TW in female sport meets the criteria of MC in the sense I explicate here, does not show that the inclusion of TW in female sport is fair. Such inclusion is not fair, and the proper currency of sport is fair competition. ‘Meaningful Competition’, on the other hand, is a snare and a delusion.","PeriodicalId":46532,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Philosophy of Sport","volume":"50 1","pages":"1 - 17"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2000,"publicationDate":"2023-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"3","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of the Philosophy of Sport","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00948705.2023.2167720","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"ETHICS","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 3

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this paper I discuss a new conception that has arrived relatively recently on the scene, in the context of the debate over the inclusion of transwomen (hereafter TW) in female sport. That conception is ‘Meaningful Competition’ (hereafter MC) – a term used by some of those who advocate for the inclusion of TW in female sport if and only if they reduce their testosterone levels. I will argue that MC is not fair. I understand MC as a substitute concept, as an attempt to substitute for the perfectly serviceable concept of fair competition. It is an attempt at conceptual engineering that should be resisted. This is important because some International Federations have accepted MC as good coin, and the underlying theory of MC, which I explicate for the first time, underpins the stance taken by the IOC (International Olympic Committee) in its Framework Document. To establish that the inclusion of TW in female sport meets the criteria of MC in the sense I explicate here, does not show that the inclusion of TW in female sport is fair. Such inclusion is not fair, and the proper currency of sport is fair competition. ‘Meaningful Competition’, on the other hand, is a snare and a delusion.

查看原文本刊更多论文

为什么“有意义的竞争”不是公平竞争

在本文中，我讨论了一个最近出现的新概念，在关于将跨性别女性(以下简称TW)纳入女性体育运动的辩论背景下。这个概念就是“有意义的竞争”(以下简称MC)——一些人主张在女性运动中加入TW，只要她们的睾丸激素水平降低。我认为MC是不公平的。我把MC理解为一种替代概念，一种试图替代公平竞争这一完全可行的概念的尝试。这是一种应该受到抵制的概念工程尝试。这一点很重要，因为一些国际单项体育联合会已经接受了MC作为一种好货币，而MC的基本理论，我第一次解释，支撑了IOC(国际奥委会)在其框架文件中所采取的立场。从我在这里阐述的意义上说，在女性体育中纳入TW符合MC的标准，并不表明在女性体育中纳入TW是公平的。这样的包容是不公平的，而体育的真正货币是公平竞争。另一方面，“有意义的竞争”是一种陷阱和错觉。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Journal of the Philosophy of Sport Multiple-

CiteScore

1.90

自引率

14.30%

发文量

期刊介绍： The Journal of the Philosophy of Sport (JPS) is the most respected medium for communicating contemporary philosophic thought with regard to sport. It contains stimulating articles, critical reviews of work completed, and philosophic discussions about the philosophy of sport. JPS is published twice a year for the International Association for the Philosophy of Sport; members receive it as part of their membership. To subscribe to either the print or e-version of JPS, press the Subscribe or Renew button at the top of this screen.