The family, the team, and special responsibilities

It is common in contemporary sport to liken the notion of the team to that of the family. That is, the family is used to evoke team life. Portraying the team as a family usually implies a positive evaluation. Despite its prevalence, the team as a family equation has not been analyzed in the sport ph...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of the philosophy of sport Vol. 51; no. 1; pp. 73 - 88
Main Author Torres, Cesar R.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Routledge 02.01.2024
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
competition
Family
special responsibilities
sport
team
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Summary:It is common in contemporary sport to liken the notion of the team to that of the family. That is, the family is used to evoke team life. Portraying the team as a family usually implies a positive evaluation. Despite its prevalence, the team as a family equation has not been analyzed in the sport philosophy literature. Thus, the purpose of this article is twofold. First, it explores whether the team is to be equated with the family. To discuss the nature of the family and the team, I draw together the work of several sport philosophers with that of Laura Wildemann Kane. Second, and considering what characterizes the team, this article investigates whether teammates have special responsibilities to one another by virtue of their relationship and the value attached to it. I propose that the team as a family equation does not align with the constitution of these two social groups and that teammates have special responsibilities to one another, but such responsibilities are different from those observed in the family.
ISSN:0094-8705
1543-2939
DOI:10.1080/00948705.2024.2308905