Preliminary communication
BIOETHICAL PERSPECTIVE OF MIXED MARTIAL ARTS
Antonio Kovačević
; Association for supporting of informal education, critical thinking and philosophy in practice “Petit Philosophy”, Zadar
Abstract
When we observe sports in a (bio)ethical context, we are usually dedicated
to the questions of fair play, sport virtues, gender issues, or racism. However, we
rarely ask the question of bioethical justification of sport per se. MMA (mixed
martial arts or ultimate fighting) has experienced a boom in the last 15 years,
with its dynamic and combination of elements from different, more traditional
martial arts, slowly overtaking the throne of popularity from the most popular
martial art hitherto - the “noble art” of boxing. Questions arising in the triangle
of MMA, sports, and bioethics are various. Can we bioethically justify, in the
name of entertainment and sports, deliberately harming another human being?
Can we justify placing ourselves consciously at the risk of injury as well? What
about the rest of the (in)direct participants of this sport, such as organizers,
promoters, fans - people who profit in some way from the fights (be it material
or immaterial) although they are not directly included in it? It is easy to answer
these questions, especially from the aspect of a right to harm and self-harm, as
much as it is easy to answer a question of whether we have a right to take our
own life. However, in this paper, we will try to deal with the general justification
of the sport of MMA as a legitimate bioethical problem. We will offer an example
of a perspective, and show how the sole idea behind the sport can be observed
as a legitimate issue, examining definitions of violence, harm, and, in the end,
philosophical notion of dignity and duty, based on the works of Immanuel Kant.
Keywords
bioethics of sport; mixed martial arts; MMA; harm; Immanuel Kant
Hrčak ID:
249708
URI
Publication date:
6.12.2020.
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