Pragmatism, Purpose, and Play: Struggle for the Soul of Physical Education

Pragmatic inclinations focused on health and wellness have begun to shape much of kinesiology. The wisdom of this trend is challenged as it tends to define leadership development. Chief among the problems with this trend is the loss of professional meaning. The inadequacy of pragmatism in establishing meaning for our professional activities is the central critique of this article. Michael Polanyi's understanding of the development of meaning, rooted in his theory of personal knowledge, is the basis for the critique. Polanyi's theory is expounded and then applied to the current pragmatic dispositions of our profession showing that such utilitarian approaches destroy meaning. A reorientation of the profession is then proposed toward a concept that has the capacity to capture a more genuine sense of professional meaning: play.