The significance of sport: intrinsic values and inherent worth

The paper sheds light on what it means to claim that sport is a valuable and worthwhile human endeavor. Is human life richer and fuller (due to the fact that sport is a part of it) than it would have been otherwise? We often use the notion of inherent worth to convey this idea. The notion of inherent worth is used in contrast with the axiological notions of extrinsic value and intrinsic value. Some people value sport for its extrinsic benefits. Other people might participate in sport and value it for certain intrinsic values. This familiar distinction between the extrinsic and the intrinsic value of sport is not sufficient in order to deal with the question whether or not it is an important and worthwhile human endeavor. As an alternative, I flesh out the notion of inherent worth by distinguishing between "ways of life" and "forms of life." There are different ways people can manage and organize their lives: one can choose between being a carpenter, a lawyer or an athlete; just as one can choose between being a parent or a spinster. These are different yet equal ways of life. The socio-cultural institution of sport, on the other hand, is of a different category. It is a form of life, and like many other forms of life, it should be understood as having inherent worth, i.e., it has value in and of itself in the sense that life would be poorer and impoverished without it.