Soccer and Philosophy: Beautiful Thoughts on the Beautiful Game (Popular Culture and Philosophy Book 51)

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. Contents Warm-up THANKS FIRST HALF 1 Why Is Football So Fascinating? 2 May the Best Team Win! 3 Nietzsche’s Arsenal 4 Aristotle’s Favorite Sport 5 Plato and the Greatness of the Game 6 Can Robots Play Soccer? 7 The Hand of God, and Other Soccer . . . Miracles? INTERMISSION 8 What’s Luck Got to Do with It? 9 What’s Wrong with Negative Soccer? 10 He Had to Bring Him Down! SECOND HALF 11 Why Playing Beautifully Is Morally Better 12 How to Appreciate the Fingertip Save 13 Is Ronaldo a Modern Picasso? 14 Kant at the Maracanã 15 Embellishing the Ugly Side of the Beautiful Game FIRST EXTRA-TIME 16 Is It Rational to Support Aston Villa? 17 The Evolution of the Football Fan and the Way of Virtue 18 Playing the Derby 19 Villa till I Die! SECOND EXTRA-TIME 20 Tell Me How You Play and I’ll Tell You Who You Are 21 Barça’s Treble 22 A ‘Messi’ Way of Life 23 Hungary’s Revolutionary Golden Team 24 When a Soccer Club Becomes a Mirror KICKS FROM THE MARK 25 Bad Luck or the Ref’s Fault? 26 Kierkegaard at the Penalty Spot 27 “It’s a Lottery!” 28 The Loneliness of the Referee 29 God Is Not a Referee 30 The Player Prophet and the Phenomenology of Reading the Ref 31 The Boy Done Good? Football’s Clichés The First Team Index