Professor, Dr.Hab. E.F. Orekhov¹
Professor, Dr.Hab. E.V. Utisheva^2
1Ural State University of Physical Culture, Chelyabinsk
²National State University of Physical Culture, Sport and Health n.a. P.F. Lesgaft, St. Petersburg

Keywords: philosophy, sport, institutionalization, educational area of ​​physical culture and sport.

Introduction. Academic community takes an interest in the issues on scientific and theoretical sport analysis in terms of the modern Russian Federation in general and the prospects of sport philosophy and sociology as academic disciplines in particular [1].

Objective of the study was to substantially describe and characterize the stage of institutionalization of sport philosophy and sociology as academic disciplines within physical education institutions.

Results and discussion. According to W. Morgan, the subject of sport philosophy is “… the metaphysics of sport, i.e. inquiry into the essence that distinguishes sport from other play activities” [4].

In epistemological study of sport the researchers attempt to answer the question of what the justified knowledge is and how it differs from a belief.

Axiological studies of sport deal with the following two fundamental issues: the first issue examines the interpersonal relationships between athletes within the sport environment, while the second one considers the athletes’ behavior, both individual and collective, in the perspective of sport achievements, specifically the behavior patterns compatible with positive sport practice (in terms of moral values).

The third cluster includes the issues of gender equity in sports.

The fourth cluster comprises the academic articles by P. Singer (1973), T. Regan (1983), R. King (1991) and D. Scherer (1991) and considers the moral value of animals (whether animals have rights or specific attributes, which affect the human attitude towards them) in view of assessing the moral value of sport, since animals are exploited as sport objects.

The fifth and last cluster of articles involves the subject of pharmaceutical products used by athletes for improvement of their physical performance. The framework includes the scientific articles by P. Thompson (1982), C. Perry (1983), M. Brown (1984), R. Simon (1984), M. Lavin (1987) and R. Gardner (1989) and considers the three subject-related moral issues. The first one examines the moral values and principles determining the athletes’ intent to take pharmaceutical drugs despite the obvious risks of mental, psychological and social harm. The second issue includes the moral acceptance of pharmaceutical drugs usage for the purposes of physical performance improvement. The third issue encompasses ethical justification of doping tests aimed at preventative and punitive operations [4].

The academic community in the field of physical culture and sport has long recognized to various extent the need to consider the given issues. Undoubtedly, the status of sport as a cultural practice provides for appropriate philosophical tools, as well as the sociocultural discourse. Within the educational area of physical culture and sport, the long established tradition of sociocultural discourse began with the 1920s championship debates on the pages of the periodical Fizkul'tura i sport. Apparently, this can be attributed to the fact that, back then, the term “physical culture” had come into active use, while sport had been considered to be the bourgeois activity. Eventually, sport became recognized as part of physical culture; however, numerous debates, comprising that on the sport relevance to culture, which aspects make it relevant and why it is actually a “cult”, have been the perpetual agenda of scholarly discussion for many decades up to the 1980s. 

The problem resided in the fact that the critical analysis of sport activities could not be carried out for the obvious reasons: instrumental attitude to sport, which was considered to be the means of state policy and ideology, precluded the study of obvious issues and controversies typical of the sport sector during the late 20^th century. Despite a number of challenges within institutionalization of sport philosophy, the university curricula included the disciplines “Sport Ethics” and “Sport Esthetics”. V.I. Stolyarov, M.Ya. Saraf, N.N. Vizitey and other Russian specialists made a huge contribution to formation and development of philosophical sport analysis practice.

The situation changed in the 2000s, as the works by the European and American scholars in the field of sport philosophy and sociology became available in Russia. The idea of getting back to the university education model introduced by Peter Lesgaft and based on the conception of Wilhelm von Humboldt, which was traditional for the Russian universities, has played a significant role in formation of interest towards sport philosophy. 

In this case, education was understood as personality development and acquisition of specific mentality, while philosophy and sociology in general and the sport philosophy and sociology in particular were of major concern. It was a new chapter of institutionalization of philosophy and sociology within the educational area of physical education institutions. At this point, the main difficulty was to attract and involve the professional philosophers in the sport philosophy issues. Basically, there were no professional sociologists, while only the pedagogues with different degrees in basic education were occupied with sport sociology.

Institutionalization of sport philosophy in the field of higher physical education involved the introduction of subject-related courses and topics to the educational programs of different levels (magistrate, bachelor). The content of the courses included the following fields of philosophical reflection: “ontological perspectives”, “epistemological perspectives”, “cultural-anthropological and socio-critical perspectives”, “ethical issues in sport”, as well as the topics discussed in sport sociology courses in different foreign countries, specifically “sport and socialization of an individual”, “gender relations in sport”, “social differentiation and sport”, “deviance in sports”, etc.

For instance, the master's program “Social and Philosophical Research in the Field of Physical Culture and Sport” is based on such disciplines as “The Issues of Sport Subcultures”, “Introduction to Sport Aesthetics”, “Sport as Subject of Anthropology”, “Relevant Issues of Sport Sociology”, “Sport as a Factor of Social Health Formation”, “Sport and Society in the Globalization Era”, “Corporality as Sociocultural Category”, etc. 

Theoretical seminars and conferences were held at various times; the framework of the meetings comprised the subjects of sport philosophy and sociology, philosophy of dance, the issues of sport as the field of social extremology and other aspects in the sector.

The academic community, sport experts and athletes did not have negative feelings towards the issues of sport philosophy. However, these issues provoke rejection and aggression rather among the people, who are not involved into sports and whose concepts of sport activities are based on stereotypes taking place in the society. As a matter of fact, athletes and sport experts take a great interest in extending the insight into the content and specifics of their professional activities, as well as philosophical reflection in the physical culture and sport sector, since it reveals the new facets and perspectives on their vocational activities and increases significance of sport as a cultural phenomenon. 

The modern stage in the national educational area is primarily characterized by the transition from Humboldt's conception of education to the Bolognian conception, which is virtually the opposite of the Russian tradition. The subject of sport philosophy is widely considered by the expert community in the field of physical culture and sport of the educational sector [2, 3, 5]. Establishment of professional competences gradually shifts the focus from an accomplished professional training to professional skills building.

In this case, the role of philosophical knowledge along with sport philosophy and sociology becomes less relevant within the educational area of physical culture institutions. Furthermore, the change in the university structure and integration of university subdivisions and departments do not favour neither maintaining the existing scientific schools, nor the formation of the new ones.

Conclusions. The source analysis proves the fact that it is necessary to include certain aspects of sport philosophy to the educational area of physical education institutions in the Russian Federation; therefore, it is essential to introduce regular seminars and conferences, specialized publications and expert training centers in the field of history, sport philosophy and sociology. 

References

1. Kil'dyushov O.V. Sport kak delo filosofii: ob evristicheskoy tsennosti novoy analiticheskoy optiki (Sport as a business of philosophy: the heuristic value of new analytical optics) / O.V. Kil'dyushov // Logos. – 2013. – P. 95. – № 5. – P. 43–60.
2. Kostyuchenko V.F. Gosudarstvennyie standarty vysshego professional'nogo obrazovaniya v oblasti fizicheskoy kul'tury i sporta tret'ego pokoleniya: kakimi im byt'? (priglashenie k diskussii) (State standards of higher professional education in the field of physical education and sport of the third generation: what should they be like? (request for discussion) / V.F. Kostyuchenko, A.V. Minaev, E.F. Orekhov, V.S. Stepanov // Teoriya i praktika fiz. kultury. – 2006. – №10. – P. 2–7.
3. Kostyuchenko V.F., Shchennikova M.Yu. Professional'noe obrazovanie i sport (protivorechiya i puti ikh razresheniya). Sovremennye problemy teorii i praktiki fizicheskoy kul'tury: Sb. nauch. tr. (Professional Education and Sport (contradictions and solutions). Modern problems of theory and practice of physical culture: Col. res.) / V.F. Kostyuchenko, M.Yu. Shchennikova. – St. Petersburg: Pub. h-se of Polytechnic un-ty, 2012. – P.85–95.
4. Morgan William Filosofiya sporta: istoricheskiy i kontseptual'ny obzor i otsenka ee budushchego» (The philosophy of sport: A historical and conceptual overview and a conjecture regarding its future) / William Morgan // Philosophical and literary journal "Logos". – 2006 (54). – № 3. –P. 147–159.
5. Traditsii i innovatsii rossiyskogo vysshego obrazovaniya v sfere fizicheskoy kul'tury: opyt transkul'turnogo orientirovaniya: monografiya (Traditions and Innovations in Russian higher education in the sphere of physical culture: transcultural orienteering experience: monograph) / Ed. by E.V. Utisheva, N.G. Zakrevskaya. – St. Petersburg: [s.n.], 2011. –274 p

Corresponding author: utisheva@list.ru.

Abstract
The article deals with the problem of institutionalization of the philosophy of sport as a separate branch of social science in the educational space of the physical culture and sport sector. First, the authors speak about the subject of theoretical reflection in the interpretation of W. Morgan. Then, on several examples, including personal experience, they show the features of formation of the philosophy of sport in the Soviet era and in the last decades. It is noted that the academic sport community, practitioners and athletes have accepted this problem. The sport philosophy was rejected and induced aggression on the part of people being far from sport, whose ideas of sport activities were based on existing stereotypes. In the educational area of physical culture and sport the expansion of ideas about the content of professional activity and philosophical reflection in the field of physical culture and sport are of interest. They reveal new dimensions and meaning of expert professional activity, and aggravate the role of sport as a cultural phenomenon. The authors note that the relevance of the topic is explained not only by the expert training needs, but also by the fact that the information value and significance of sport activities in the society are changing both in terms of quantity and quality. The institutionalization of the philosophy of sport in the field of higher sport education is represented by the fact that the courses and topics on these philosophical issues have become a part of the curricula of various levels. Further, there is given the overall picture of the stage of institutionalization of philosophy in terms of the educational reform - in fact changes in the educational concept in the sphere of physical culture and sport. The prospects of the philosophy of sport as an academic discipline, especially in the institutional aspect are discussed in the paper.