Basketball and Philosophy: Thinking Outside the Paint (The Philosophy of Popular Culture)
It should surprise no one when Shaquille O'Neal quotes Aristotle. For as Walls and Bassham show, the simple American game played with ball and net has prompted some deep thinking among its players, coaches, and fans. And this remarkably profound and wide-ranging collection of essays exposes readers to some of the best of that thinking. Readers learn, for instance, how Plato's theory of the soul explains both the guile (logistikon) of a Stockton-Malone pick-and-roll and the raw force (thumoeides) of a Dawkins stuff shot. The editors even venture beyond the Western tradition to contemplate the way a shooter "in the zone" embodies Taoist principles. It will, naturally, relieve many readers when some contributors take a break from the intellectual heavy lifting for some tongue-in-cheek foolery. (Dicky V and David Hume join forces in one particularly droll imaginary dialogue.) And even readers generally indifferent to ethics will value the probing inquiry into the relative character strengths of the gentlemanly John Wooden and the hot-tempered Bobby Knight. Cerebral fans will love this book.Bryce ChristensenCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.