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Aretism: An Ancient SportsPhilosophy for the Modern WorldMichael W. Austin aa Eastern Kentucky UniversityPublished online: 20 Sep 2012.

To cite this article: Michael W. Austin (2012) Aretism: An Ancient Sports Philosophyfor the Modern World , Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, 39:2, 321-324, DOI:10.1080/00948705.2012.725902

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BOOK REVIEWS

M. Andrew Holowchak and Heather L. Reid, Aretism: An AncientSports Philosophy for the Modern World.Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2011, pp. 214. (pbk), US $65ISBN 9780739148815

The stated thesis of Aretism: An Ancient Sports Philosophy for the Modern

World is that a prominent paradigm of contemporary sport – which the

authors refer to as the Martial/Commercial Model (MC Model) – is deeply

flawed: ‘the MC quest for victory can and often does come at too high a price’

(xiv). The combination of the amount of money and the warlike mentality pres-

ent in the MC Model has numerous undesirable consequences. Holowchak and

Reid are more favorable toward the Aesthetic/Recreational Model (AR Model).

This model of sport includes an emphasis on the intrinsic goods of sport,

namely, pleasure, enjoyment, and the experience of beauty. Competition is (at

most) taken to be secondary to these primary intrinsic goods. However, they

argue that this model is too thin and propose in place of it and the MC Model

a third option, Aretism, which is grounded in the ancient Greek value of excel-

lence, or arete. Aretism is a model of sport which emphasizes its personal,

social, and global benefits. It is idealistic, to be sure, but in my view it is a

defensible and even practical idealism.

In the preface, Holowchak discusses several of the stark differences

between the athletic contests of ancient Greece and contemporary sports. First,

the Greek contests were agonistic. That is, the athletes struggled for lasting

fame via victory on a given day. Contemporary sport involves a panagonistic

struggle. This term signifies the unending contests played out through compar-

ing statistical data within a single contest as well as the continual judgments

concerning athletes and teams from different eras. The Greeks kept a record of

victors, but not of statistical data or records with respect to such values as time

and distance. This stands in stark contrast to the obsession with statistical data

which operates in much of contemporary sport. Second, the Greek contests

were religious and contained reminders via oaths that the athletes took that

the athletes were human, and not divine, and that their athletic skills were

divine gifts. Contemporary sport is secular and commercial. While athletes

today may not think of themselves as gods, many of them see themselves as

ISSN 0094-8705 print/ISSN 1543-2939 online/12/000321-11

Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, Vol. 39, No. 2, October 2012

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exceptional by virtue of their athletic talents and therefore deserving of

exceptional treatment. In the remainder of the book, Holowchak and Reid

apply the philosophical framework of the ancient Greek contests as a correc-

tive for many of sport’s contemporary problems.

In the five chapters comprising Part I, Holowchak and Reid engage in a

historical analysis of sport, beginning with a brief discussion of competitive

sport in Gilgamesh and the Iliad, as well as Greek and Roman sporting ideals

linking sport and human excellence. From there, they trace the developments

of sport in the medieval, modern, and contemporary eras, uncovering the his-

torical roots of the commercialism and martialism present in much of contem-

porary competitive sport. Part II lays out in six chapters the MC Model and the

morally problematic consequences it arguably fosters. This includes a discus-

sion of both pharmacological and other forms of performance-enhancement,

issues related to gender and violence, the obsession with statistical data, and

finally an excellent discussion of the narcissistic ego-puffing present in sport

which in part finds its sustenance in the positive responses many fans give it.

Part III analyzes the AR Model of sport which emphasizes fun, beauty, and the

experience of community over the warlike competition and commercialism of

the MC Model. While the AR Model is superior to the MC Model, it fails to ade-

quately accommodate the competitive nature of sport. The final part of the

book contains the explanation and some proposed practical applications of

Aretism, the model of sport favored by the authors which finds its roots in the

spirit of the ancient Greek athletic contests with their focus on physical and

moral excellence. In the remainder of this review, I will focus on this positive

proposal.

Aretism is conceived of as lying on an Aristotelian mean between the

extremes of the MC and AR models of sport. For example, while the MC

Model focuses on the extrinsic goods of sport and the AR Model on the

intrinsic, Aretism values both intrinsic and extrinsic goods that are available

via sport. On the Aretic model, the primary good which persons ought to

pursue in sport is arete, though extrinsic goods such as physical health and

some wealth are important as well. Aretism can include other intrinsic goods

of sport, such as the pleasure derived from play which is emphasized on the

AR Model. Aretism avoids the exploitative practices of sport fostered by the

MC Model in which athletes sacrifice virtue and physical well-being for vic-

tory, fame, and wealth and see competitors and others involved in sport as

merely means to these ends. Aretism also occupies the mean between the

win-at-all costs attitude advocated by the MC Model and the indifference to

winning present in the AR Model. Aretic athletes pursue victory, but their

pursuit is virtuous and is characterized by respect for their opponents. Aret-

ism values the pursuit of knowledge via sport, unlike the MC Model’s rejec-

tion of knowledge exemplified in its perpetuation of gender myths and the

322 BOOK REVIEWS

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AR Model’s lack of concern for any extrinsic good, including knowledge and

social understanding, to be sought through sport. Aretism blends individual-

ism and community-orientation through the meritocratic rewarding of deserv-

ing individual athletes and its conception of athletic competition as a

cooperative endeavor. It also rejects the commercialism of the MC Model and

the recreationalism of the AR Model. Sport, on the Aretic Model, is educa-

tional. As Holowchak and Reid put it, ‘Its goal is to improve persons and

societies by creating an arena within which arete may be cultivated, tested,

and publicly appreciated’ (168).

The notion of integration lies at the heart of Aretism. Many of the values

present in competitive sport are universal, and in light of this sport can help

contribute to excellence in personal, social, and global life. At the global level,

athletes (and I would add others involved in sport) who value friendliness,

courage, justice, patience, and commitment can use sport to express these and

other values and so reinforce them for others. For Holowchak and Reid, events

such as the Olympics or the World Cup could then take on positive global

moral and social significance above and beyond mere rhetoric. Socially, Aretism

accepts sport’s competitive nature but requires respect for others. Competitors

are not enemies, but partners in the pursuit of arete. At the personal level, the

aretic approach to sport requires a personal commitment to excellence not

only qua athlete, but qua human being. The aretic athlete makes use of sport

for the sake of moral, intellectual, and physical self-improvement. A loss or

some form of failure is an opportunity to cultivate and exemplify perseverance.

Victory gives one the chance to display generosity and graciousness. The indi-

vidual athlete uses sport to become an excellent human being. In the final

chapters of the book, the authors discuss aretism in the context of youth

sports, higher education, and its relevance for the continuing problems related

to sexism in sport. While sport has been used for morally and politically dubi-

ous ends, Holowchak and Reid offer a model of sport which not only justifies

its existence and cultural functions, but would, if practiced, foster individual,

social, and global excellence.

Given that I ascribe to an aretic approach to sport, I do not have

substantive criticisms to offer. The analysis present in the pages of this

book resonates deeply with my own views about sport. However, there is

a way in which the argument could be significantly strengthened. In my

discussions of this type of approach to sport, a common reaction is a cer-

tain form of incredulity. This may have to do with the acceptance of one

of the other models of sport, but it often seems to be grounded in a

cynicism about whether such an approach to sport is realistic. Apart from

philosophical argumentation, there is also a growing body of empirical evi-

dence that sport can be used for the sake of moral development. There is

evidence that sport can be employed for the cultivation of self-control

BOOK REVIEWS 323

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(Muraven, Baumeister, and Tice 1999; Oaten and Cheng 2006) and that

with the proper motivational climate aretic values such as respect, sport-

spersonship, and sound moral reasoning are fostered (Ommundsen et al.

2003; Miller, Roberts, and Ommundsen 2004). There is also evidence that

sport can be employed for the sake of character development (Shields and

Bredemeier 2009). Aretism, then, is not some Pollyannaish and naıve view

propagated by philosophers of sport, but rather it is an approach to sport

that is in fact achievable.

Aretism: An Ancient Sports Philosophy for the Modern Sports World is

accessible, rigorous, and contains numerous historical and contemporary

sporting examples that are both helpful and interesting. It will be very

beneficial as a text in courses dealing with the history and philosophy of

sport. The book could also be profitably used in a more general course

in ethics. Aretism should be read by academics and students interested in

the history, philosophy, and contemporary significance of sport. Moreover,

I would urge athletes, coaches, administrators, fans, parents, and other

sport practitioners to read and then seek to cultivate in their respective

contexts this valuable and excellent approach to the human practice of

sport.

REFERENCES

MURAVEN, M., R. BAUMEISTER, & D. TICE. 1999. Longitudinal improvement of self-regulation

through practice. Building self-control strength through repeated exercise.

The Journal of Social Psychology 139: 446–57.

OATEN, M., & K. CHENG. 2006. Longitudinal gains in self-regulation from regular physical

exercise. British Journal of Health Psychology 11: 717–33.

OMMUNDSEN, Y., G.C. ROBERTS, P.N. LEMYRE, & D. TREASURE. 2003. Perceived motivational cli-

mate in male youth soccer: Relations to social-moral functioning, sportspers-

onship, and team norm perceptions. Psychology of Sport and Exercise 4:

397–413.

MILLER, B., G. ROBERTS, & Y. OMMUNDSEN. 2004. Effect of motivational climate on sport-

spersonship among competitive youth male and female football players.

Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports 14: 193–202.

SHIELDS, D.L., & B.L. BREDEMEIER. 2009. True competition. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Michael W. Austin

Eastern Kentucky University

Mike.Austin@eku.edu

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00948705.2012.725902 � 2012, Michael W. Austin

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