Instructors Manual (Lecture
Notes and Outline Only) For A
History and Philosophy of
Sport and Physical Educa�on
From Ancient Civiliza�ons to
the Modern World 8th Edi�on
By Robert Mechikoff (All
Chapters 100% Original
Verified A+ Grade)
,Mechikoff 8e Lecture Notes 1-1
Lecture Notes and Outline
Chapter 1: History and Philosophy of Sport and
Physical Education
Suggested Lecture Over Material in Chapter 1.
This chapter focuses on the history of sports and the various interpretative frameworks used in
this book. The remaining material presents ontological and dualistic thoughts about the nature of
the physical body and its historical and philosophical relationship with the mind. The chapter
also covers modernization theory along with a seminal work by Huizinga—Homo Ludens—and
other philosophical issues.
The vast majority of our students are very comfortable with history because they have been
studying history since primary school, whereas philosophy is another realm in itself. Most
students have had limited, if any, exposure to philosophy, so we have started with history, a
subject that the students will be comfortable and familiar with.
Chapter Outline
• The study of history in any area, including sport and physical education, can lead to a
more enlightened and productive life.
• Students of history have found that it often provides a powerful and enlightened
perspective on why people behave and think in the present and offers an insightful basis
for forecasting the future.
• History provides a particular perspective and, when done well, an insightful and
enlightened perspective.
o This purpose for understanding history was put most eloquently by philosopher
George Santayana (1863–1952): “Progress, far from consisting in change, depends
on retentiveness. . . . Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat
it.”
• Historical study/inquiry can serve as a dramatic source of inspiration and motivation.
o One’s ability to “think outside the box,” a skill prized by employers and one of the
hallmarks of intellectual achievement, is largely dependent on one’s understanding
and application of the critical thought process.
o Understanding and applying the lessons of history—especially the history of ideas
and their track record of success or failure—will serve to demonstrate one’s
analytical ability to think outside the box and go beyond the status quo.
• Historians, anthropologists, sociologists, and archaeologists study men and women who
have played a significant role in shaping the course of history, ancient and modern.
© McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw Hill LLC.
,Mechikoff 8e Lecture Notes 1-2
• Sport and physical education can be understood through the methods of history, as can any
other human activity.
o In so doing, one understands how past events shaped the present and how future
events in sport and physical education will be affected by “current events.”
• Understanding how a culture plays tells much about how that culture operates outside of
sport and physical education.
• Jacques Barzun (1907–2012) observed that “whoever wants to know the heart and mind of
America had better learn baseball.”
I. Definitions
• Sport is a modern term first used in England around A.D. 1440.
• The origins of the word sport, or its etymology, are Latin and French.
• In French, the word de(s)porter has its roots in the Latin word deportare, which means “to
amuse oneself.”
• Over time, the meaning of the term sport grew from merely “amusing oneself” to an
interpretation that was used extensively throughout England, referring to competition in
the form of games, individual athletic exploits, and hunting.
• According to Huizinga, play is a free activity standing quite consciously outside
“ordinary” life as being “not serious,” but at the same time absorbing the player intensely
and utterly. It is an activity connected with no material interest, and no profit can be
gained by it.
• J. Levy argues that play has the following three fundamental characteristics:
o Play is intrinsically motivated.
o Play involves the temporary suspension of normal/typical reality and the acceptance
of alternative realities.
o Play involves an internal locus of control.
• A game is a somewhat more organized effort at play, where the organized and playful
elements of the activity become more evident.
• The structuring of the playful impulse leads to the following definition of a game:
o a play activity which has explicit rules, specified or understood goals . . . , the
element of opposition or contest, recognizable boundaries in time and sometimes in
space, and a sequence of actions which is essentially “repeatable” every time the
game is played.
• An example of differing viewpoints is how sport was conceived and practiced by the
ancient Greeks.
o The Greeks strove to achieve arete, a unique Greek concept.
o Greek athletes, under the watchful eye of their coaches, underwent rigorous
training striving to achieve individual (not team) excellence.
© McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw Hill LLC.
, Mechikoff 8e Lecture Notes 1-3
• The ancient Romans, who eventually conquered the Greeks in 146 B.C., did not have the
cultural belief in individual excellence to the same extent that the Greeks did. Roman sport
took place in massive arenas (much bigger than anything ever built by the Greeks) like the
Circus Maximus that held up to 250,000 fans, who were entertained by watching and
betting on chariot races, public executions, and animal fights. Another The majority of
Romans were bored with the Greek version of sport, while most Greeks were repulsed by
Roman sport.
• A general definition of sport will include the following characteristics: continuity, division
of roles, dynamic interaction with an audience, and a supporting establishment.
II. “Doing” History
• History is the study of change, or the lack of change, over time.
• Therefore, sport history is the study of how sport has changed (or not) over time.
• Michael Oriard, an English Professor at Oregon State University who played football at
Notre Dame and professionally with the Kansas City Chiefs of the NFL, wrote Reading
Football where he tells the story of the development of the game of football and how
people’s attitudes toward it came to be.
o Oriard asks why Americans ran with the ball from the line of scrimmage instead of
playing rugby as their British ancestors did and why they began to use judges and
referees.
• The whole point of studying sports history is to show that sport history can be understood
in a way that demonstrates how and why sport has changed.
o In so doing, one can understand a variety of changes that occurred: the evolution of
rules of a particular sport, the different attitudes that cultures and nations have
toward sport, and the ways in which all of these changes are manifested in the
American character.
Discussion Question: Does the American attitude toward rules, as discussed by Oriard, manifest
itself in business, law, and other institutions that search for “loopholes” and other “strategic”
ways to circumvent rules? To what degree do sports reflect society, and vice versa?
A. Interpretive Versus Descriptive History
• Descriptive history describes objectively and in as much detail as possible, what
happened in the past.
o Descriptive history tries to provide the who, what, when, and where of the past,
and it tries to do so without injecting ideas, values, and judgments from the
present onto the events of the past.
• Interpretive history evaluates the evidence and attempts to explain the how and the why
of events that happened in the past.
© McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw Hill LLC.
Notes and Outline Only) For A
History and Philosophy of
Sport and Physical Educa�on
From Ancient Civiliza�ons to
the Modern World 8th Edi�on
By Robert Mechikoff (All
Chapters 100% Original
Verified A+ Grade)
,Mechikoff 8e Lecture Notes 1-1
Lecture Notes and Outline
Chapter 1: History and Philosophy of Sport and
Physical Education
Suggested Lecture Over Material in Chapter 1.
This chapter focuses on the history of sports and the various interpretative frameworks used in
this book. The remaining material presents ontological and dualistic thoughts about the nature of
the physical body and its historical and philosophical relationship with the mind. The chapter
also covers modernization theory along with a seminal work by Huizinga—Homo Ludens—and
other philosophical issues.
The vast majority of our students are very comfortable with history because they have been
studying history since primary school, whereas philosophy is another realm in itself. Most
students have had limited, if any, exposure to philosophy, so we have started with history, a
subject that the students will be comfortable and familiar with.
Chapter Outline
• The study of history in any area, including sport and physical education, can lead to a
more enlightened and productive life.
• Students of history have found that it often provides a powerful and enlightened
perspective on why people behave and think in the present and offers an insightful basis
for forecasting the future.
• History provides a particular perspective and, when done well, an insightful and
enlightened perspective.
o This purpose for understanding history was put most eloquently by philosopher
George Santayana (1863–1952): “Progress, far from consisting in change, depends
on retentiveness. . . . Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat
it.”
• Historical study/inquiry can serve as a dramatic source of inspiration and motivation.
o One’s ability to “think outside the box,” a skill prized by employers and one of the
hallmarks of intellectual achievement, is largely dependent on one’s understanding
and application of the critical thought process.
o Understanding and applying the lessons of history—especially the history of ideas
and their track record of success or failure—will serve to demonstrate one’s
analytical ability to think outside the box and go beyond the status quo.
• Historians, anthropologists, sociologists, and archaeologists study men and women who
have played a significant role in shaping the course of history, ancient and modern.
© McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw Hill LLC.
,Mechikoff 8e Lecture Notes 1-2
• Sport and physical education can be understood through the methods of history, as can any
other human activity.
o In so doing, one understands how past events shaped the present and how future
events in sport and physical education will be affected by “current events.”
• Understanding how a culture plays tells much about how that culture operates outside of
sport and physical education.
• Jacques Barzun (1907–2012) observed that “whoever wants to know the heart and mind of
America had better learn baseball.”
I. Definitions
• Sport is a modern term first used in England around A.D. 1440.
• The origins of the word sport, or its etymology, are Latin and French.
• In French, the word de(s)porter has its roots in the Latin word deportare, which means “to
amuse oneself.”
• Over time, the meaning of the term sport grew from merely “amusing oneself” to an
interpretation that was used extensively throughout England, referring to competition in
the form of games, individual athletic exploits, and hunting.
• According to Huizinga, play is a free activity standing quite consciously outside
“ordinary” life as being “not serious,” but at the same time absorbing the player intensely
and utterly. It is an activity connected with no material interest, and no profit can be
gained by it.
• J. Levy argues that play has the following three fundamental characteristics:
o Play is intrinsically motivated.
o Play involves the temporary suspension of normal/typical reality and the acceptance
of alternative realities.
o Play involves an internal locus of control.
• A game is a somewhat more organized effort at play, where the organized and playful
elements of the activity become more evident.
• The structuring of the playful impulse leads to the following definition of a game:
o a play activity which has explicit rules, specified or understood goals . . . , the
element of opposition or contest, recognizable boundaries in time and sometimes in
space, and a sequence of actions which is essentially “repeatable” every time the
game is played.
• An example of differing viewpoints is how sport was conceived and practiced by the
ancient Greeks.
o The Greeks strove to achieve arete, a unique Greek concept.
o Greek athletes, under the watchful eye of their coaches, underwent rigorous
training striving to achieve individual (not team) excellence.
© McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw Hill LLC.
, Mechikoff 8e Lecture Notes 1-3
• The ancient Romans, who eventually conquered the Greeks in 146 B.C., did not have the
cultural belief in individual excellence to the same extent that the Greeks did. Roman sport
took place in massive arenas (much bigger than anything ever built by the Greeks) like the
Circus Maximus that held up to 250,000 fans, who were entertained by watching and
betting on chariot races, public executions, and animal fights. Another The majority of
Romans were bored with the Greek version of sport, while most Greeks were repulsed by
Roman sport.
• A general definition of sport will include the following characteristics: continuity, division
of roles, dynamic interaction with an audience, and a supporting establishment.
II. “Doing” History
• History is the study of change, or the lack of change, over time.
• Therefore, sport history is the study of how sport has changed (or not) over time.
• Michael Oriard, an English Professor at Oregon State University who played football at
Notre Dame and professionally with the Kansas City Chiefs of the NFL, wrote Reading
Football where he tells the story of the development of the game of football and how
people’s attitudes toward it came to be.
o Oriard asks why Americans ran with the ball from the line of scrimmage instead of
playing rugby as their British ancestors did and why they began to use judges and
referees.
• The whole point of studying sports history is to show that sport history can be understood
in a way that demonstrates how and why sport has changed.
o In so doing, one can understand a variety of changes that occurred: the evolution of
rules of a particular sport, the different attitudes that cultures and nations have
toward sport, and the ways in which all of these changes are manifested in the
American character.
Discussion Question: Does the American attitude toward rules, as discussed by Oriard, manifest
itself in business, law, and other institutions that search for “loopholes” and other “strategic”
ways to circumvent rules? To what degree do sports reflect society, and vice versa?
A. Interpretive Versus Descriptive History
• Descriptive history describes objectively and in as much detail as possible, what
happened in the past.
o Descriptive history tries to provide the who, what, when, and where of the past,
and it tries to do so without injecting ideas, values, and judgments from the
present onto the events of the past.
• Interpretive history evaluates the evidence and attempts to explain the how and the why
of events that happened in the past.
© McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw Hill LLC.
