Defeat,Loss, Death,and Sacrifice in Sports |
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| Authors: | Yunus Tuncel |
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| Abstract: | In this article, I will examine a difficult subject in competitive sports: loss and defeat. Defeat is painful because we do not enter into competitive games to be defeated, although defeat is a strong possible outcome of the game, especially among more or less equal contestants. If losing a game is an existential condition that lies ahead of every athlete and team, even the best ones, why is defeat difficult to accept, especially in modern times in contrast to ancient times? I will explore recent studies and ideas on sacrifice, especially those of Bataille, and discuss Heidegger’s notion of being-toward-death within the context of defeat in sports. Every defeat presupposes a form of sacrifice, understood in the loose sense, and every sacrifice presupposes a certain disposition toward death. Not only is defeat an inevitable condition in sport-making, but it is intrinsically linked to regimes of victory. Nietzsche acknowledges this intrinsic connection between defeat and victory. I will detour into this area to show that Nietzsche’s agonistics does not dismiss the necessity of loss, defeat, sacrifice, and death in competition; on the contrary, and this may not be obvious to modern readers, he sees them as necessary in the practices of self-transformation toward higher goals and states. |
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| Keywords: | defeat loss sacrifice death |
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