Conceptual analysis demonstrates a tripartite framework of athletic knowledge in Paul Weiss's philosophy, suggesting bodily excellence is inclusive, enjoyable, and independent of victory.
Paul Weiss is widely recognized as one of the founding figures of the philosophy of sport. Building on his broader metaphysical system, Weiss examined the phenomenon of sport in Sport: A Philosophic Inquiry (1969), arguing that sport is rooted in the pursuit of bodily excellence, the embodiment of knowledge in action. Although Weiss never explicitly labeled his inquiry as a ‘sport epistemology’, his scattered arguments on athletic knowledge can be reconstructed into a framework of three key dimensions: knowledge in sport; knowledge about sport; and knowledge through sport. Such epistemological reconstruction reveals that Weiss’s conception of bodily excellence, contrary to critics, applies to any participant pursuing their own potential, enables rather than opposes enjoyment, and can be displayed even in defeat. The framework also provides insights into contemporary debates in sport philosophy.
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Zhang et al. (2026) studied this question.
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