Cheating is the Name of the Game - Conventional Cheating Arguments Fail to Articulate Moral Responses to Doping

• Authors: Ashkan Atry , Mats G. Hansson , Ulrik Kihlbom
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

One of the most common arguments in the discussion on doping is that it represents a form of cheating. In this paper it is argued that common doping-is-cheating arguments based on notions of rule-violation and unfair advantage are inadequate, since they treat cheating as distinct from the structure and the logic of competitive sport. An alternative approach to cheating in sport as regards performance enhancement will be offered based on the ethics of participation in interpersonal relationships. This participatory perspective points towards the need to broaden our conception of agency and moral responsibility in relation to doping, beyond the notion of the individual “drug-cheat” who acts in a vacuum.

Keywords

EN

doping; cheating; unfair advantage; rule violation; interpersonal relationships

• Publisher: De Gruyter Open
• Journal: Physical Culture and Sport. Studies and Research
• Year: 2013
• Volume: 59
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 21-32

Dates

published

1 - 10 - 2013

online

20 - 10 - 2013

Contributors

author

Ashkan Atry

• Uppsala University, Sweden

author

Mats G. Hansson

• Uppsala University, Sweden

author

Ulrik Kihlbom

• Uppsala University, Sweden

References

• Adam, D. (2001). Gene Therapy May be Up to Speed for Cheats at 2008 Olympics. Nature. 414:6864:569-570.
• Atry, A., Matsson, H.G., Kihlbom, U. (2012). Beyond the Individual: Sources of Attitudes Towards Rule Violation in Sport. Sport, Ethics and Philosophy, 6(4), 467-479. DOI:10.1080/17511321.2012.739194. [Crossref]
• Darwall, S. (2004). Presidential Address to the Central Division of the American Philosophical Association. Retrieved from http://www-personal.umich.edu/sdarwall/
• Foddy, B., Savulescu, J. (2007). Ethics of Performance Enhancement in Sport: Drugs and Gene Doping. In R. E. Ashcroft, A. Dawson, H. Draper, and J. R. McMillan (Eds.), Principles of Health Care Ethics (pp. 511-519). London: John Wiley and Sons.
• Gardner, R. (1989). On Performance-Enhancing Substances and the Unfair Advantage Argument. Journal of thePhilosophy of Sport, 16(1), 59-73
• Green, S.P. (2004). Cheating Law and Philosophy, 23, 137-85.
• Hamilton, T., Coyle, D. (2012). The Secret Race. Bantam, USA.
• Hardie, M., Shilbury, D., Ware, L., Bozzi, C. (2010). I Wish I was Twenty One Now - Beyond Doping in the AustralianPeloton. Retrieved from http://www.newcykllingpathway.com Kosiewicz, J. (2011a). Foul Play in Sport as a Phenomenon Inconsistent with the Rules, yet Acceptable and Desirable. Physical Culture and Sport. Studies and Research, 52, 33-43. DOI: 10.2478/v10141-011-0012-x.[Crossref]
• Kosiewicz, J. (2011b). The Ethical Context of Justifying Anti-Doping Attitudes: Critical Reflections. Physical Cultureand Sport. Studies and Research, 53, 76-92. DOI: 10.2478/v10141-011-0024-6.[Crossref]
• Leaman, O. (2007). Cheating and Fair Play in Sport. In W.J. Morgan (Ed.), Ethics in Sport. USA: Human Kinetics.
• Lippi, G., Franchini, M., Guidi, G.C. (2008). Doping in competition or doping in sport? British Medical Bulletin, 86, 95-107.[WoS][PubMed][Crossref]
• Loland, S. (2002). Fair Play in Sport: A Moral Norm System. London & New York: Routledge.
• Loland, S. (2005). The Varieties of Cheating-Comments on Ethical Analyses in Sport. Sport in Society, 8(1), 11-26.
• Lundby, C., Achman-Andersen, N.J., Thomsen, J.J., Norgaard, A.M., Robach, P. (2008). Testing for recombinant human erythropoietin in urine: problems associated with current anti-doping testing. J Appl Physiol, 105(2), 417-9.[PubMed][Crossref][WoS]
• Moran, A., Guerin, S., Kirby, K., MacIntyre, T. (2008). The Development and Validation of a Doping Attitudes andBehaviour Scale. Report to World Anti-Doping Agency &The Irish Sports Council.
• National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (2000). Winning at All Cost: Doping in Olympic Sports (p. 2).
• National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. New York: NY, Preston, J., Szymanski, S. (2003). Cheating in Contests. Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 19(4), 612-624.[Crossref]
• Sandel, M.J. (2007). The Case against Perfection Ethics in the Age of Genetic Engineering. USA: Harvard University Press.
• Savulescu, J., Foddy, B., Clayton, M. (2004). Why we should allow performance enhancing drugs in sport. BritishJournal of Sports Medicine, 38, 666-670.[WoS]
• Schermer, M. (2008). On the argument that enhancement is ‘‘cheating’. J Med Ethics; 34, 85-88.[Crossref][PubMed][WoS]
• Schneider, A.J., Butcher R.B. (2000). A philosophical overview of the arguments on banning doping in sport. In T.
• Tännsjö, C.M. Tamburrini (Eds.), Values in Sport: Elitism, Nationalism, Gender Equality, and the ScientificManufacturing of Winners (pp.185-199). London: Routledge.
• Strawson, P.F. (1980). Reply to Ayer and Bennett. In Z. Van Straaten (Ed.), Philosophical Subjects. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
• Strawson, P.F. (2008). Freedom and Resentment. In Freedom and Resentment and Other Essays. New York: Routledge.
• USADA (2012). Report on Proceedings Under The World Anti-Doping Code and the USADA Protocol.
• Wallace, R.J. (1994). Responsibility and the Moral Sentiments. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.

Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/pcssr-2013-0020