Title

Cheating, lying, and trying in recreational sports and leisure practices

Abstract

This paper analyses the ethics of rule breaking, lying, and failing to try one’s best in recreational sports and leisure activities. Foundational philosophical arguments regarding the ethics of cheating, lying, and failing to try by Scott Kretchmar, Robert Simon, and Sissela Bok are applied to cases of seemingly unethical behaviour in leisure practices. Three specific scenarios are addressed: (1) recreational-level participants who intentionally break rules, (2) participants who exaggerate their performances, and (3) participants who appear more concerned with collecting medals and ensuring selfies are taken than with putting forth significant effort. The resulting philosophical analysis addresses why cheating, lying, and sandbagging can be tolerated as part of the ethos of some leisure activities while being disdained in others, and what, if anything, is morally wrong about cheating, lying and not trying one’s best during recreational sports and leisure practices.

Department(s)

Philosophy

Document Type

Article

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1080/11745398.2017.1284009

Keywords

cheating, lying, recreation, sandbagging, Sports ethics

Publication Date

10-20-2017

Journal Title

Annals of Leisure Research

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