Sport, Olympism and Two Lifestyles

Abstract

Research background and hypothesis. The study analyses two lifestyles: asceticism and hedonism. Spiritual and
moral dimension of our lives form a wider background and the field of sport, especially renewed olympism, affect
the closer one of our reflections.  
Research aims were to compare both lifestyles and to make the character of their relation clear;  to map the real
role of asceticism in the sports sphere and to integrate both lifestyles into a certain meaningful whole.
Research methods. Our methodology is philosophical, involving conceptual analysis and the application of the
outcomes to sports practice.
Research results. Both concepts have usually been considered as contrary or polar. Yet our analysis leads into
persuasion that they are in dialectic relation with many mediations and “bridges” between them. Spiritual and moral
dimensions play an important role in the topical reflections.
Discussion and conclusions. Many authors warn about the close junction between sports and asceticism. The
role  of  hedonism  is  analyzed  much  less. We  tried  to  find  some  balanced  position  within  the  framework  of  the
integrated whole. The final part of the study tries to show that the topic ought to be joined with a horizon of meanings.
Promoting “reasonable asceticism” can be one aspect of raison d´être of today’s sport in this postmodern world with
the supremacy of hedonistic orientation.

Keywords: asceticism, Pierre de Coubertin’s attitudes, hedonism, meaning of life