This chapter is designed to help you to answer the following fundamental questions:
1. What is philosophy?
2. Why is it important for me to become more philosophical?
3. What does this process entail?
4. What does applied philosophy mean?
5. What is the relationship between my philosophy and my movement?
The applications of philosophy are in your everyday existence. Your philosophy determines your attitudes, your values, what you choose to do and who your friends are. To illustrate the profound effect of philosophy, consider each of the following pairs of scenarios and be ready to discuss where you stand in relation to each:
The National Scene
1. America is the land of opportunity. Hard work and enterprise is justly rewarded in the capitalist system. In a democratic country such as this, the citizens have a real say in setting policy. In effect, we control both domestic and international politics. America is the world's peacekeeper, suppressing forces of evil and encouraging freedom and democracy. Peace and prosperity are characteristics of the nation as we enter the third millenium.
2. America is at war with itself. The gap between the have's and the have not's continues to grow. Violence is rampant on the streets and in the home. People are even organizing to kill each other, they are forming gangs, crime families and militia groups. Democracy is a mirage. Politicians and the ruling business class do exactly as they please regardless of the voter. International policy is governed by self-interest and economic benefit.
The Education Scene
1. Education is the key to social mobility. Socially disadvantaged children have every opportunity of fulfilling their potential through the free public schooling and the many entitlement programs available to them. Since the passage of laws designed to protect the rights of minorities, females and those with disabling conditions, discriminatory practices have effectively been eliminated from the nation's schools. An increasing emphasis on learning goals and accountability for meeting those goals is producing a more efficient and effective school curriculum. Teaching is a secure profession which provides a comfortable wage and the feeling of well-being associated with a career that revolves around helping others to grow and learn.
2. Education is in a state of crisis. Functional illiteracy is rampant, drop out rates are high and enthusiasm for learning is low, particularly among minority youth. Judging from a series of comparative studies, American children are learning less through their schooling than their European counterparts. Teaching is a low status profession. There is a perception that the least able students choose teaching as a career. In times of need, schools hire poorly qualified teachers, sometimes aggressive minority recruitment erodes the quality of the teaching force. In schools discipline standards are lax, teachers are often more concerned with maintaining order than facilitating learning. Disillusionment among teachers is common. Many seek jobs elsewhere.
The Physical Education Scene
1.Increasing public awareness about the importance of fitness, the risks of obesity and the value of exercise augur well for physical education in the schools. Because children are naturally active and enjoy many movement experiences, they should find physical education to be an attractive and rewarding alternative to other "dry" school subjects. Recent initiatives in the curriculum, which emphasize clearly achievable fitness goals, bring physical education in line with other school disciplines that are seeking clearer definition of learning goals, more measurable outcomes and more accountability. Teaching physical education must be a very rewarding career. Not only do you get job security and a decent working wage, you also get to do what you want to do as a profession - play games, share your movement interests with enthusiastic children and know that you are helping to create a fitter, healthier nation.
2. Physical education in schools is a shambles. Without any shared mission, programs range from being an adjunct to athletics to being glorified recess. Meanwhile, the nation's children become more sedentary, more obese, more at-risk. Those who enjoy sport and whose parents can afford to pay for the experience look to community programs for their exercise, the others languish in front of the television. Although most children enjoy physical activity when they are young they are generally "turned off" exercise by school physical education. The curricular emphasis on physical fitness achievement rewards success but accentuates failure and does little to cultivate joy in movement. Teachers are often coaches, many of whom are more concerned with athletic successes than cultivating the physical skills of their less able students. Morale is low because of budget cuts, reduced graduation requirements for physical education and student requirements.
The Kinesiology Scene
1. Kinesiology is on the crest of a wave. The time is ripe for kinesiology programs to flourish in universities across the nation. In response to public and political pressure, higher education is more closely aligning itself with societal needs. Kinesiology clearly has a niche in this process. The nation wants a better health care system, more education in prevention, wellness and nutrition, better public schools, better athletes and more records on the sports field and more of a focus on aging gracefully and actively without debilitating injury. Kinesiology can help to meet these needs. Now that it has shed its dependence upon Athletics in most universities, it has developed a discipline-based curriculum and research agenda, it is populated by scholars with doctorates, rather than teacher-coaches and it is preparing to take its rightful place in the upper echelons of the university power structure.
2. Remember Washington, Oregon, Missouri? These are only the forerunners of a host of programs that will fall victim to the budget- cutters, restructuring axes. There is no agreement on a mutual mission in the field. Why, programs have been fighting for a hundred years over what to call themselves and still can't agree! While the field is in such disarray kinesiology is vulnerable not only to downsizing but also to the slings and arrows of public opinion. What is this new listing in the course handbook? - P.E. under a new name? Biomechanics? Is it science? What can a student do with it? Is it legitimate or is it a safe place for athletes without academic aspirations to hide? Because it cannot clearly establish it's identity on campus and because professors cannot reach unanimity it will be peripheral to the mission of the university and will be one of the first programs to go in a budget crunch.
The Personal Scene
1. America is the home of the free. Each of us forges our own course through life, taking advantage of the opportunities that life has to offer on the way. We have the liberty to define ourselves, to choose our own path and to be all that we can be. Through hard work and discriminating choices we can achieve the American dream. Just do it and in the process reach out and touch somebody!
2. We are victims of circumstance. Things happen to us for no particular reason - some good, some bad. If you are born in a hole, you will probably stay in a hole, for we are relatively powerless to effect change. Don't take risks and whatever you do, don't talk to strangers!
The Health Scene
1.America has the most advanced medical system in the world. There are plenty of doctors. They are well-trained to treat every ailment using state-of-the-art technology and medicine. More money is spent in this country than anywhere else in the world in absolute and per capita terms on ensuring the healing and comfort of citizens. There is a growing awareness of the importance of prevention as an integral part of personal health which is leading to the popularity of wellness programs in various settings. Doctors generally know what is in the best interests of their patients and tend to their well-being through a range of modalities.
2.The bottom line in the medical community today is economic self - interest. The basic premise of managed care is to minimize complications and to maximize profits. Without the appropriate insurance a growing minority of Americans can't get treatment for their ailments. Doctors are trained to be narrowly focused on chemical and surgical modes of a cure and tend to be resistant to complementary forms of treatment such as acupuncture, massage therapy and herbs. The personal touch of the family physician is becoming obsolete. Patients are shuttled in and out of the multiple practice clinics as quickly as possible, often without seeing their own primary care physician, without being referred to a doctor who can actually treat their condition [particularly by unconventional methods] and with virtually no prospect of any doctor paying them a home visit when they get too sick to travel to the clinic. Medical treatment is overpriced, alternative methods are underutilized, good care is accessible to the rich but not to the poor, physicians are in it for the money and don't really care about their patients.
The Sports Scene
1.Sports is a form of play through which we build character. Sportsmanship, teamwork, loyalty, grace in victory and dignity in defeat, leadership and courage are examples of values inculcated through sport. Sport is a melting pot which accepts all-comers, discriminating between them on the basis of athletic talent but ignoring race, class and gender distinctions. Sport is run by the people for the people. It is an avenue of social mobility. Through the reward system of athletic scholarships, underprivileged students may earn acceptance to college to represent their school on the playing field and gain a high-quality education. Professional sports is a showcase of the best natural talent in the world.
2. If sports teaches any values at all, they are dysfunctional in today's world. Aggression, violence, the aggrandizement of power, uniformity, conformity and mindless subordination to authority figures are the moral foundation of many sports program. There is no dignity in losing - if you don't win, you may as well not play, so it doesn't really matter how you win, just so long as you do! Social mobility through athletic talent is a mirage - you're more likely to be struck by lightening than rise through the ranks to fame and fortune. Untold numbers of underprivileged youth have found only disillusionment in their quest for athletic greatness. Many of the fortunate few who get college scholarships are exploited, suffer injury that haunts them for the rest of their lives, are shunted into easy [ not necessarily rewarding] majors and often fail to graduate. Few of these athletes would claim that they are playing at sport - for them it is work. Sport is a hegemonic system which serves to reinforce the discrimination and prejudices of society. Cheating, corruption and performance-enhancing drug use are rapidly becoming the norm.