Philosophical Issues in Sport Science Edited by Emily Ryall Printed Edition of the Special Issue Published in Philosophies www.mdpi.com/journal/philosophies Philosophical Issues in Sport Science Philosophical Issues in Sport Science Special Issue Editor Emily Ryall MDPI • Basel • Beijing • Wuhan • Barcelona • Belgrade Special Issue Editor Emily Ryall University of Gloucestershire UK Editorial Office MDPI St. Alban-Anlage 66 4052 Basel, Switzerland This is a reprint of articles from the Special Issue published online in the open access journal Philosophies (ISSN 2409-9287) in 2019 (available at: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/philosophies/ special issues/Philosophical Issues Sport Science). For citation purposes, cite each article independently as indicated on the article page online and as indicated below: LastName, A.A.; LastName, B.B.; LastName, C.C. Article Title. Journal Name Year, Article Number, Page Range. 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Contents About the Special Issue Editor ...................................... vii Emily Ryall Introduction to Philosophical Issues in Sport Science Reprinted from: Philosophies 2019, 4, 57, doi:10.3390/philosophies4040057 ............. 1 Matthew Hickson The Necessity of Philosophy in the Exercise Sciences Reprinted from: Philosophies 2019, 4, 45, doi:10.3390/philosophies4030045 ............. 9 John Gray The Hazards of a Biomedical Exercise Paradigm: Exploring the Praxis of Exercise Professionals Reprinted from: Philosophies 2019, 4, 54, doi:10.3390/philosophies4030054 ............. 20 Evan Thomas Knott What Might a Theory of Causation Do for Sport? Reprinted from: Philosophies 2019, 4, 34, doi:10.3390/philosophies4020034 ............. 33 Saana Jukola Casuistic Reasoning, Standards of Evidence, and Expertise on Elite Athletes’ Nutrition Reprinted from: Philosophies 2019, 4, 19, doi:10.3390/philosophies4020019 ............. 44 Francisco Javier Lopez Frias Unnatural Technology in a “Natural” Practice? Human Nature and Performance-Enhancing Technology in Sport Reprinted from: Philosophies 2019, 4, 35, doi:10.3390/philosophies4030035 ............. 55 Pam R. Sailors Chips and Showmanship: Running and Technology Reprinted from: Philosophies 2019, 4, 30, doi:10.3390/philosophies4020030 ............. 71 Harry Collins Applying Philosophy to Refereeing and Umpiring Technology Reprinted from: Philosophies 2019, 4, 21, doi:10.3390/philosophies4020021 ............. 77 S. Seth Bordner Why You Don’t Have to Choose between Accuracy and Human Officiating (But You Might Want to Anyway) Reprinted from: Philosophies 2019, 4, 33, doi:10.3390/philosophies4020033 ............. 84 Andria Bianchi Something’s Got to Give: Reconsidering the Justification for a Gender Divide in Sport Reprinted from: Philosophies 2019, 4, 23, doi:10.3390/philosophies4020023 ............. 93 Jonathan Cooper Testosterone: ‘the Best Discriminating Factor’ Reprinted from: Philosophies 2019, 4, 36, doi:10.3390/philosophies4030036 .............106 Rory Smead Sports Tournaments and Social Choice Theory Reprinted from: Philosophies 2019, 4, 28, doi:10.3390/philosophies4020028 .............121 v About the Special Issue Editor Emily Ryall is a Reader in Applied Philosophy at the University of Gloucestershire. She is the author of Philosophy of Sport: Key Questions, Critical Thinking for Sports Students and other publications on philosophical issues in sport, games and play. She is currently the associate editor for the Journal of the Philosophy of Sport and former Chair of the British Philosophy of Sport Association. She has contributed to media discussions on philosophical issues in sport on outlets such as the BBC, New York Times, The Guardian and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. vii philosophies Editorial Introduction to Philosophical Issues in Sport Science Emily Ryall School of Sport and Exercise, Oxstalls Campus, University of Gloucestershire, Gloucester GL2 9HW, UK; [email protected] Received: 4 November 2019; Accepted: 4 November 2019; Published: 8 November 2019 Abstract: The role and value of science within sport increases with ever greater professionalization and commercialization. Scientific and technological innovations are devised to increase performance, ensure greater accuracy of measurement and officiating, reduce risks of harm, enhance spectatorship and raise revenues. However, such innovations inevitably come up against epistemological and metaphysical problems related to the nature of sport and physical competition. This special issue identifies and explores key and contemporary philosophical issues in relation to the science of sport and exercise. The opening four chapters, focus on the nature of scientific evidence, and causation in sport; the middle four chapters on the influence of science and technology and its relationship to sport officiating; whilst the final three chapters consider the way in which science affects the construction of sport. It brings together scholars working on philosophical problems in sport to examine issues related to the values and assumptions behind sport and exercise science, identify key problems that result, and provide recommendations for improving its practice. Keywords: sport science; epistemology; ontology; causation; technology; evidence 1. Introduction This special issue arose because although there are individuals writing philosophically about issues in the sport and exercise sciences, there has not been a collection of articles that focus on the sports sciences itself since McNamee’s [1] edited collection Philosophy and the Sciences of Exercise, Health and Sport published in 2005. McNamee’s collection of essays provides a useful starting point for sports scientists to think about their practice and some of the assumptions behind it, and this edited collection attempts to pick up the baton a decade and a half later. Clearly, during this period, although similar philosophical issues arise, the application and context has changed. The evolution of sport, and particularly the way in which technology affects it, will always raise significant philosophical and ethical questions about both the value and concept of sport and its relationship to the sciences. As our technological capacity and scientific knowledge develops, there remains a place for philosophical thinking about if and how it should be utilized as well as the recognizing often-unintended consequences that may follow. Similarly, the importance of sport and exercise science as a means to affect and influence this evolution appears to directly correspond with the professionalization and commercialization of sport and provokes questions about what we want sport to look like and what we expect it to do. As I am writing, questions have been raised over the legitimacy and value of Kipchoge’s sub two-hour marathon, and Kosgei’s women’s world record a day later. Both of whom were wearing highly engineered running shoes designed to conserve the runner’s energy and cushion the impact, thus making it ‘easier’ to run. Controversy surrounds this footware technology and whether the advantage it provides is akin to the subsequently banned ‘sharkskin’ swimming costumes that broke a multitude of world records within a single swimming event in 2009 [2]. Similarly, questions are asked about the way in which athletes are commodified and their bodies are dissected into ever more discrete physiological and biomechanical components in order to achieve ‘marginal gains’ in competition. There are also continued questions about the accuracy of officiating in sport, with ongoing implementation of ever more elaborate devices Philosophies 2019, 4, 57; doi:10.3390/philosophies40400571 www.mdpi.com/journal/philosophies Philosophies 2019, 4,57 to ensure the ‘correct decision is made’. However, as can be illustrated by the recent introduction of video assistant referee (VAR) in football, technology is not infallible and does not necessarily provide the means to answers questions about reality as to what ‘really happened’, hence why there seems to be an equal amount of controversy over officiating decisions following its implementation. All of this demonstrates that although scientific and technological innovations are intended to make sport better by increasing performance, ensuring greater accuracy of measurement and officiating, reducing risks of harm, enhancing spectatorship and creating wealth, they inevitably come up against epistemological, metaphysical, ontological and axiological problems that cannot easily be solved. The focus of the papers within this special issue is broad and covers a range of topics, from the way in which philosophical thinking can provide sport and exercise sciences with an underpinning rationale about the value of sport and its priorities, to the more specific conceptual problems that arise from the use of technology in sport, to the way in which science is used to defend the way sport is structured, particularly around the issue of sex segregation. The first four chapters deal with scientific evidence and the issue of causation in sport, the next four chapters with