Amateurism and Professionalism as Moral Languages: In Search of a Moral Image for Sport

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Abstract
In this paper, amateurism and professionalism are treated as moral images, that is, as moral ideals whose point is to enliven and enrich our involvement in sport. Treating them as such enables one to assess their moral fitness as models of sporting conduct, an assessment made imperative by the apparent demise of the amateur ideal and the triumph of the professional ideal. That assessment is made more urgent because the eclipse of amateur sport by professional sport is a morally problematic development: While athletes are entitled to make a living off their athletic accomplishments, they are not entitled to turn sport into a commercial exploit, because doing so compromises and imperils the central goods that underpin and galvanize sport's practice.

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