Ethics and the athlete: why sports are more than a game but less than a war

Are the ethics of athletes complex? Consider that an elite bicyclist might inject himself with hormones to increase his exercise capacity,but if his opponent falls, then that same hormone-abusing athlete will likely stop until his opponent has regained control. This article reviews key concepts from the philosophy of sport. Using six cases from the sports archives, it presents a practical framework for interpreting and assessing the moral status of an athlete's behavior. This work enables readers to appreciate more clearly both the contextual subtleties and the robust relationship between ethics and the athlete.