Heidegger's Concept of Authenticity and Sport Experience

Higuchi Satoshi

広島大学教育学部紀要. 第二部

Bulletin of the Faculty of Education, Hiroshima University. Part 2

Carolyne Thomas regarded the aesthetic experience in sport as authentic in the meaning from Martin Heidegger's Being and Time. To examine the adequacy of the interpretation, the comparison between Thomas' concept of authenticity and the Heidegger's was attempted in this paper.

Thomas' concept of authenticity is opposite to accidentality. It is also positive realization of a self, positive movement toward a capable being, a unique self, a unique experience, and honesty in a sport situation. Authenticity of intent is intent-result matching.

On the other hand, Heidegger's concept of authenticity should be understood as follows : the terms, authenticity and inauthenticity, do not have such meaning as authenticity is higher or superior and inauthenticity is lower or inferior ; our everyday life is inauthentic in general ; authenticity is a distinctive and specific situation of ourselves ; authenticity is self-realization and self-disclosure of Being-towards-death.

We cannot find any relationship between Thomas' concept of authenticity and Heidegger's. According to Thomas, authenticity of intent, that is correspondence between intent and result, is one of the criteria for the experiential sport aesthetic called perfect moment. But she also indicates that the perfect moment is a happening. This is nothing but a contradiction.

We cannot find any justification in the relationship between the authenticity of intent and aesthetic experience in sport, either. However,the sport experience does not seem to be inauthentic instead of authentic in Heidegger's terminology. We need to change and transcend our alternative view on the problem of the sport experience as authentic or inauthentic.

In terms of such transcendence, the conception of sportsmood by a Japanese aesthetician Masakazu Nakai was suggested.

Sports and physical training [ 780 ]

eng

広島大学教育学部

[ISSN] 0440-8713

[NCID] AN0021336X