Football and Philosophy

Football and Philosophy

Call for Abstracts

Mike Austin

Eastern Kentucky University

Department of Philosophy and Religion

The editor is in discussion with the University Press of Kentucky regarding the publication of an edited volume entitled Football and Philosophy. Chapters should be philosophically substantive but written in a style that is accessible to non-philosophers, and in the range of 3,000-4,500 words.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

-violence and football
-the ethics of performance-enhancing drugs
-issues in the movie and new tv series, Friday Night Lights.

-Other football movies and the issues they contain: e.g. Any Given Sunday; The Longest Yard; North Dallas Forty; The Program.
-football and friendship
-role models: do NFL stars have moral responsibilities to their fans?
-morality, religion, and professional football players: are religious ideals compatible with the violence of football? Should athletes use their position to proselytize?
-The Magnanimous Athlete: What Would Aristotle Say about Terrell Owens?
-ethics, tradition, and the BCS.

-the relationship between the educational mission of academic institutions and their football programs.

-should student-athletes be paid?
-the virtue of loyalty: fans to teams, teams to athletes, athletes to teams.

-fantasy football

-gambling

If interested, please note the following:

1. Send an abstract of paper (100-300 words), preferably by 11/1/2006, by e-mail to
2. Also send a CV or resume for each author and co-author.
3. Tentative date for 1st draft of papers: 1/15/2007.

4. Tentative date for final draft of papers: 4/1/2007.