Tutorial: Philosophy Through Sports

Tutorial taught by grad student. Limited to 10 students. In 1983 the Raiders won the Superbowl and Marcus Allen was the MVP. Marcus Allen no longer plays for the Raiders and neither do any of his teammates. The Raiders have since moved from LA to Oakland to Las Vegas and ownership has passed from Al Davis to Mark Davis. Despite this, they¿re still the Raiders and they¿re still, in some sense, the same team as the 1983 Superbowl champions. In a similar vein the Washington Commanders claim a 90 year history, despite having recently changed their name and jersey. In what sense can we say these teams are the same throughout their history? In this tutorial we will think about philosophy *through* sports: we will explore classic philosophical problems - like the one above - as they arise in sports such as baseball, soccer, basketball, and more. We will not be asking about the nature of sports or about the ethics of sports, rather we will see how everyday aspects of sports can give rise to puzzling abstract questions. If you see the world as larger version of your favorite sport, then this is the philosophy class for you. No background in philosophy needed to be successful in the course.