History and Philosophy of Sport and Physical Activity blends historical investigations and philosophical insights regarding sport and physical activity. This cross-disciplinary text shows how theory in the humanities can affect professional practice.

Introduction: History, Philosophy, and Kinesiology Evolution of Kinesiology Humanities and the Sciences Nature of History and Philosophy Subject Matter of Kinesiology Wrapping Up and Looking Ahead Chapter 1: Bodies, Brains, and Cultures: Human Origins and the Riddles of Why People Run Making Sense of Our Story Developing a Brief Chronology of Our Story Great Leaps Forward Patterns of Culture in Hunter-Forager Societies Origins of Sport Work Versus Play Chapter Wrap-Up Chapter 2: Transition From Endurance Predators to Farmers: The Birth of Civilizations Revolution in the Ways We Lived Impact of the Neolithic Revolution on Human Vigor and Health Physical Activity as a Tool and a Jewel Difficulties of Interpreting Ancient Sporting Cultures Developing a Model of Traditional Sport Chapter Wrap-Up Chapter 3: Ancient Greece and the Shape of Modern Sport and Physical Education: Power of the Past in the Present and Future Foundation of Western Civilization Myth, Religion, and the Origins of Greek Physical Culture Birth of Philosophy Ancient Sporting Festivals Olympic Games Greek Sporting Culture Sources of Evidence for Ancient Greek Sport Greek Recreation and Physical Education Chapter Wrap-Up Chapter 4: Continuity and Change in Physical Cultures: From the Maturation and Decline of Classical Civilizations to the Middle Ages Monuments to Sporting Spectacles Comparing and Contrasting Mesoamerican and Roman Spectacles of Blood Opposition to Gladiatorial Contests Ethics of Brutality in Sport Contrast and Continuity Enduring Martial Arts Traditions Religious and Intellectual Opposition to Martial Sports Similarities and Differences in Eastern and Western Sport Global Continuities and Contrasts Chapter Wrap-Up Chapter 5: Expansion of the West and the Birth of the Modern World: Global Transformations of Physical Cultures Birth of the Modern World Renaissance, Neoclassical Revivals of Sport, and the Nature of Man Emergence of Modern Debates on Human Nature Protestant Reformation and Sport, Physical Education, and the Body Scientific Revolution and Modern Attitudes Toward Sport, Physical Education, and the Body Chapter Wrap-Up Chapter 6: Great Britain and the Birth of Modern Sports: Economic, Political, Social, and Cultural Revolutions Sport as a Critical Modern Institution Rationalization of Ethics and Utilitarianism Rationalization and Gambling Games for the Common Folk Rationalization of Fair Play Chapter Wrap-Up Chapter 7: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: Development of Modern Sport Emergence of Modern Sport Liberty, Equality, and Morality Role of Fraternity in Modern Sport Fraternity, Partisanship, and Spectatorship Fraternity, Partisanship, and Commercialism Chapter Wrap-Up Chapter 8: Games and Empires Paradoxical Power of Sports Conquest, Colonialism, and the Spread of Western Sports Sport in Its Best Light Subaltern Dilemma Sport as a Revolutionary Force Sport, Colonialism, and American Imperialism Chapter Wrap-Up Chapter 9: Rise of International Sport Worlds: Olympics, World Cup, and Other Competitions Reviving the Olympic Games Olympic Growing Pains Social Exclusion and Other Harsh Realities of the Early Olympics Globalization of Modern Sport Sport in Black and White and Technicolor Ethics of Commercialism Chapter Wrap-Up Chapter 10: The West and the Rest: The Emergence of Critiques and Countercultures to Dominant Forms Traditional and Indigenous Sport in an Age of Modernity Western Appropriations of Eastern Muses Effectiveness of Folk Psychology and Folk Medicine Encounters with the “Other” Holistic Kinesiology Emergence of Countercultural Movement Practices Chapter Wrap-Up Chapter 11: The Golden Age of Modern Sport Phenomenology Cold War Sport The Ethics of Performance Enhancement Breaking Gender Barriers The Cold War and the Politics of Race in American Sport The Global Dimensions of Race and Sport Sport in Living Color Chapter Wrap-Up Chapter 12: Snapshots From Our Times Do Global Connections Create Global Identities? Global Consumer Culture The Emergences of New Global Forms of Sport Chapter Wrap-Up