Mike McNamee, professor of applied ethics at Swansea University, will present two lectures on Oct. 20 and 21 at Linfield College as part of the annual Walter Powell-Linfield College Philosophy Lectures at Linfield.
McNamee will present “Olympism, Doping and the Spirit of Sport” on Monday, Oct. 20, at 6:30 p.m. in Ice Auditorium in Melrose Hall at Linfield. Olympism is said to be a philosophy of life blending sport, education and culture. It seems that under the philosophy of Olympism, doping, including genetic manipulation, should be sanctioned in order to continue pushing the limits of athletic achievement. However, McNamee will argue that the concept of limits, informed both by Olympism and human nature, ought to provide a structure within which athletic excellence is admired both technically and ethically and that unfettered pursuit of athletic enhancement should be limited by an appreciation for the nature and value of the “spirit of sport.”
McNamee will discuss “Paralympism, Disability and the Ethics of Elective Amputation” on Tuesday, Oct. 21, at 6:30 p.m. in Ice Auditorium. In this lecture, McNamee will offer a critique on paralympism in the context of the International Paralympic Charter’s four stated values: courage, determination, inspiration and equality. He will discuss two specific cases arising from paralympic sports involving amputation of limbs to either enhance sporting performance or enable disability sport membership of an otherwise able-bodied person by the use of elective surgery. McNamee will argue that disability sports organizations should ban such practices and better articulate their value base in order to preserve the integrity of disability sports.
McNamee is also the Professor Chaire Olympique Henri de Baillet Latour and Jacques Rogge 2013-14 at the University of Ghent/Universite Catholique de Louvain in Belgium and a visiting professor at the Hunan Normal University in China. He is the former president of the International Association for the Philosophy of Sport, founding chair of the British Philosophy of Sport Association and vice president of the European Association for the Philosophy of Sport.
In 2007, McNamee founded the international research journal “Sports, Ethics and Philosophy” and is also the editor of the book series “Ethics and Sports.” His research overlaps in the fields of philosophy, medicine, health sciences and sport. He has published or edited 17 books, including “Sport, Medicine and Ethics,” “Handbook of the Philosophy of Sport,” “Sports, Virtues and Vices” and more. He has published over 80 articles and 50 book chapters.
The Walter Powell-Linfield College annual Philosophy Lectureship is in recognition of a generous gift from Michael Powell in honor of his father. Walter Powell founded Powell’s Bookstore in Portland, the largest private bookstore in the United States with over one million volumes.
The lecture is also sponsored by PLACE (Program for Liberal Arts and Community Engagement), exploring this year’s theme “How Do We Know? Paths to Wisdom.”
The lectures are free and open to the public. For more information, contact Jesus Ilundain at jilunda@linfield.edu.
