Research On “Playing To Be Human” Contemporary From The Perspective Of Legal Philosophy

In response to global conversations on the concept of ‘learning to be human',this dissertation examines the sports concept of ‘playing to be human' and its practices in China.It studies two fundamental questions-possibilities of and approaches to implementing ‘Playing to be human' in China's sports education-through critical lenses of both Chinese and Western philosophies,in particular,hermeneutics.This dissertation aims to investigate how to cultivate qualified citizens in China's contemporary sports practice,and by doing so,provide theoretical guidelines for implementing the policy of ‘all-round education for all citizens'.Specifically,reflecting on the problems of China's contemporary practice of ‘playing to be human',this study draws on the Hegelian theory of enlightenment including the view of ethics reclaiming morality and employs methods of document analysis,elite interviews and case studies to explore the mechanism and approaches of implementing ‘playing to be human' in China's sports education.Main findings of this study include:First,the paradox between morality and ethics,a symptom of modernity,stands as the prominent problem of contemporary practice of ‘playing to be human' in China.On one hand,"morality without ethics" leads to the atomization of ‘playing to be human' and the inevitability of “the banality of evil'.On the other hand,“ethics without morality” destroys equal interpersonal relationships,thus forming distorted personality in society.To avoid this paradox,this study proposes to utilize the Hegelian view of ‘ethics reclaiming morality' to shift from “action-centered” to “actor-centered”,from sports morality to sports virtue in China's practice of ‘playing to be human'.This is because: on one hand,Chinese culture belongs to ethical culture,fine traditions of which cannot be interrupted in the process of globalization;on the other hand,the proposed approach stems from reflecting on the atomization of ‘playing to be human' in western liberalism and its implications for China's practice.Second,the mechanism of ‘playing to be human' is to transform the general will into self-will through sports practice.In specific,the general will and individual will struggle for recognition and reconcile with each other in the struggle.As a result,the general will is internalized into self-action requirements,forming virtue,solidifying into personality,and finally achieving the Confucius concept of “doing at will without breaking rules”.In sports practice,“knowledge without actions” is due to not only the lack of moral self-identification,but also the loss of ethical responsibility from the actors.From the perspective of Hegelian philosophy,implementing ‘playing to be human' requires three conditions:(1)The foundation of practical rationality,which ensures the scientific validity of the evidence on which moral norms are based.(2)The situational interpretation of practical rationality,which ensures appropriate interpretation and application of moral norms;(3)The motivation of practical rationality,which transforms moral will into moral action to achieve the unity of knowledge and practice.Third,the law of sports is objective and universal.Natural law provides the rational and moral bases for sports norms.From a diachronic point of view,the law of sports has undergone the transformation from ethics to morality,from outside to inside,from objective spirit to individual spirit.The sources of sports law can be divided into:(1)externalism: sports law originates from external social demands;(2)internalism: internalism can be further divided into customary internalism and constructive internalism.The former believes that the law of sports belongs to "conventions",while the latter believes that the law of sports originates from the moral reflection of practitioners;(3)hermeneutics: the law of sports derives from the consensus formed in the course of equal interactions.Based on the analysis of the sources of the law of sports,this study establishes three dimensions of ‘playing to be human': becoming things,becoming self and becoming human.The goal of ‘playing to be things' is to realize the unity of individuals and the universe.The goal of ‘playing to be self' is to realize the unity of the individual and his/her inner world.The goal of ‘playing to be human' is to realize the unity of self and the universal ego.Fourth,from the perspective of the realization of freedom,‘playing to be human' points at the freedom condition of “not breaking rules”,which is the internal unity of legal order,spiritual order and social order.The law of sports stands as a new type of human rights,which provides basic support for ‘playing to be human'.The law of morality promotes the formation of good will,and at the same time,differentiates justice and conscience;However,morality is subjective,prone to moral nihilism and hypocrisy.The law of ethics embodies the unity of subjectivity and objectivity.From this understanding,‘playing to be human' is to fulfill the stipulation of ethical entities to individuals,transform the external general will into self-will,and embody the general will in self-will.In both abstract law and the law of morality,becoming human is selfcentered.In the law of ethics,"me" becomes human in others,which means two or more free wills form the universal will through the combination of love,law and system.In family ethics,sports maintains the existence of the entity of family ethics;In social ethics,sports cultivates the concepts of freedom,equality and competition necessary for maintaining social interactions.In national ethics,sports shapes healthy citizenship consciousness,cultivates patriotic sentiment,and forms the concept of national identity.To conclude,in view of the characteristics of contemporary practice ‘playing to be human' in China,this dissertation puts forward possible approaches to implement ‘playing to be human' in sports education:(1)restarting sports enlightenment,imparting scientific health knowledge to citizens,and cultivating healthy life concept;(2)moralizing sports education,which includes not only modernizing traditional Chinese sports education but also localizing western sports concepts and practices so as to achieve the transformation from sports in the sense of knowledge to sports in the sense of survival;(3)advocating sports justice.First of all,through the improvement of the "nationwide system",patriotism should be cultivated to provide spiritual motivation for ‘playing to be human'.Secondly,the nation state should fulfill the responsibility of sports ethics,implement distributive justice and substantial justice,and provide faith strength for carrying forward sports spirit.It is suggested that,this study calls for integrating the law of sports into the family traditions and rules to form the family virtues;embedding the law of sports in public order and fine conventions to form social morality;converting the rational spirit of the sports law into the power of recognition and faith,and finally,achieving the goal of sports becoming a kind of daily life style of contemporary Chinese people.