Soccer and Philosophy: Beautiful Thoughts on the Beautiful Game

Popular Culture and Philosophy #51

by Ted Richards (Editor)

This collection of incisive articles gives a leading team of international philosophers a free kick toward exploring the complex and often hidden contours of the world of soccer. What does it really mean to be a fan (and why should we count Aristotle as one)? Why do great players such as Cristiano Ronaldo count as great artists (up there alongside Picasso, one author argues)? From the ethics of refereeing to the metaphysics of bent (like Beckham) space-time, this book shows soccer fans and philosophy buffs alike new ways to appreciate and understand the world's favorite sport.

Genres: Philosophy, Soccer, Football, Nonfiction, Sports, Essays, Theology

408 pages, Paperback

First published April 10, 2010

Reviews

[Parham]

بعضی فصل ها برایم دوست داشتنی بود اما این دوست داشتنی بودن هم در اکثر قریب به اتفاق موارد یا به جنبه ی فوتبالی محض برمیگشت یا در موارد کمتری به جنبه ی فلسفی؛ نه جنبه ی رابطه ی فوتبال و فلسفه. در واقع در بهترین حالت میشود گفت به نظر می‌آید برای من فلسفی فهمیدن فوتبال مقوله ی جذابی نبود.
خیلی از فصل ها را هم نفهمیدم حرف چیه اساسا، که مطمئنا ترجیح می‌دهم فکر کنم ایراد از مترجم بوده (که به نظر می‌رسید خیلی با فلسفه آشنایی ندارد (من .هم ندارم البته، ولی خب من کتاب فلسفی ترجمه نمی‌کنم)) یا از نویسنده تا از من!!! حالا این که واقعا ایراد از کی بوده، نمیدانم

[Mor‌TeZa]

این کتاب میتونه کتاب مقدس هر عشق فوتبال_فلسفه ای باشه

[Damon]

This book is a collection of articles on the philosophy of soccer from around the World. I was disappointed with the majority of the articles as they bordered on the ridiculous. Some of the authors actually put some effort into their writing and touched on some very good topics, but I had to skip over a number of articles as they were ludicrous. They covered topics like, why Nietzsche would be an Arsenal fan if he was alive today, or Plato would be a Chelsea fan, or whether Aristotle would have admired the beauty of the modern game? To me these questions are whimsical and subject to opinion, and have no real relevance to philosophy at all.
However, there were other articles that I found inspiring, or thought provoking; such as, what defines soccer? or Why do weaker teams sometimes beat stronger teams, and therefore, is the game itself flawed? Can robots eventually play soccer better than humans? Is Maradona's "Hand of God" goal, really a miracle? What is the definition of luck? And does luck have a place in soccer? Is the penalty shoot out flawed, and therefor immoral? All of these questions were very good, but the editor needed to do a better job of weeding out poor articles and keeping the good ones.

[Stimple]

Yes, a book more about philosophy and less about soccer. But, with some work and patience, the book does set a tone that represents what a soccer aficionado sees and appreciates in the world's favorite game.

[Danny]

Uneven, as this sort of collection always is. Some of the essays are just silly - Nietzsche would have been an Arsenal fan! But others are genuinely insightful and interesting thought-pieces on both philosophy and soccer.

[Woogie! Kristin!]

I enjoyed this and many theories were quite interesting, but given several of the philosophers cited, was disappointed in the lack of addressing German football. Still, it was a decent read during World Cup season 2014.

[Karen Tompert]

I find I prefer reading about actual soccer than other's philosophical musings on soccer.

[Rui Ma]

This book gave me some valuable insights as well as ruined my simple happiness for watching soccer. It takes a while to just sit back, relax and enjoy the game without overthinking.

[Аркула]

2,5/5

The most prevalent feeling I had while reading this book is how far-fetched some of the claims and comparisons in it are. Not just those about who Nietzsche or Plato would support, but the general ideas presented in some of the chapters are just so stretched, although I personally think there is a lot of philosophy in football. The authors are definitely more philosophers than football fans and this book is more about philosophy than football - football feels just as a backdrop or a setting for some basic philosophy.

Sure, I did enjoy a certain number of essays, mostly those about fans and football culture, but others are just boring or flat-out ridiculous. Of course, with these types of anthology books, consistency is never to be found. Overall, I don't think enough of the articles were good enough to justify reading the whole thing, so choosing carefully is crucial while reading.

[Milad]

تا نصفشو تونستم بخونم.
اما در رابطە با نصفەای کە خوندم مقالەهای ابتدایی خیلی بهتر و جذابتر بودند. هرچی بیشتر پیش رفتم از جذابیتش کاستە شد و مطالب کنجکاوم نکردند.
شاید بعدها کە بیشتر فلسفە خوندم برگردم سراغش.

[Amin Ebrahimi]

به شدت خسته کننده و اغلب همراه با توضیح واضحات و گاهی توضیح مزخرفات.

[Benno Krojer]

It was fun in the beginning but became quite repetitive the more essays I read. So I stopped half-way. Still a cool premise!