1. Philosophical Positions of the Body and the Development of Physical Education: Contributions of the Germans, Swedes, and Danes in Nineteenth-Century Europe
Chapter 8
Mechikoff, R.A., A History and Philosophy of Sport and Physical Education, Fifth Edition © 2009, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

2. Introduction Discuss parameters of idealism
Show impact of idealism on body and physical education
Historical role of education during 18th century, including rise of physical education

3. Idealism Traced back to work of Socrates and Plato
Has “competed” with naturalism since antiquity
Naturalism—all events share same character
Can be explained as a process inherent in nature
Idealism and its view of the body are very significant to physical education

4. Idealism Idealists focus on three specific topics:
The existence of God
The self
Knowledge
Three components of idealism make up the fabric of metaphysical inquiry
God, self, and the question, “how do I come to know?”
Components are not limited to idealism, but form the basis for all philosophy

5. Idealism
Idealists believe that entire universe is that which can be conceived or imagined by the mind
What the mind or spirit experiences and perceives as real is essential and authentic
The world of material objects is secondary to the “reality” conceived by the mind
The actual world is imperfect
Our mind is able to conceive of a perfect world, which also must exist and is real

6. Idealism Use of logic is essential to make idealism work
Example: Reality is mind
All ideas are conceived by the mind
Anything conceived by mind in all probability exists
Therefore, any idea conceived by mind exists
The mind is composed of a spiritual quality
Ultimate reality is beyond sensory and material world
Two different philosophical views in idealism:
Metaphysical and epistemological

7. Metaphysical Idealism
Analyzes universe as a psychic or mental reality
All “things” that exist in the universe are linked by an ideal element (logically deduced)
Plato, St. Augustine, and even Aristotle believed in metaphysical idealism
Facts or evidence are obtained through deductive and subjective logic
Skeptics of metaphysical idealism will argue against this subjective logic later

8. Epistemological Idealism
Approaches the study and actual “identification” of reality with mentally knowable data which are perceptible truths
Despite what might be “out there” beyond our mind, all we can know is what is in our minds

9. Idealism and the Self Refer back to Descartes to prove “self”
Descartes argued that the ability to doubt is a direct route to discovering the self
“I think, therefore I am”
Descartes arrived at self through process of doubt
Descartes’ “self” was mindful activity
Confirming the logic of idealism that reality is mind

10. Idealism and Knowledge
Understanding nature of knowledge will clarify reality
Ideals must be derived from logical evidence
Sensory experiences must be interpreted and validated as authentic or unreliable
Truth is orderly and systematic
Test for truth: its coherence with knowledge that has been previously established
Individual attains truth by examining the wisdom of the past through his own mind

11. Idealism and Knowledge
Everything that exists has a relationship to something else that exists
Reality is a system of logic and order established by the universal mind

12. German Idealists
Idealist believes that world and universe are primarily spiritual
Part of the “perfect world”
Humans are composed of more than the corporeal
They have a soul that is a link to spiritual reality
Ultimate reality to an idealist is spiritual

13. German Idealists George Berkeley
World has meaning because our minds are able to discern it
Experience allows us, through the mind, to extract meaning from our existence,
Something must exist that actually provides the elements of quality and meaning
This Something is the Universal Mind, or God
German idealists did not always base their belief in ultimate ideals with a traditional belief in God

14. German Idealists Complex philosophy
Immanuel Kant
Complex philosophy
Published first major book at age 57—Critique of Pure Reason
Theory of knowledge: Conscious reason is the catalyst for all of our experience
It is our conscious experience (mind) that provides unity and order

15. German Idealists: Kant
The world is represented to us by our physical senses and sensory input
Sensations are chaotic and, therefore, unrelated
These sensations we perceive are caused by “something out there”
Mind and conscious thought describes and orders sensations into perceptible components of space and time

16. German Idealists: Kant
Driving question: Can metaphysics exist as a science?
Seems we come to know science and metaphysics in similar ways
We link and unify sensory input by categorizing them through mindful activity (consciousness)
We catalog these as reliable or unreliable

17. German Idealists: Kant
Knowledge and reason are interactive process
Originate in mind and are directed towards the world
Must “reason” through issues and questions
“Thing in Itself”: defies our knowledge
Can never be known (infinite)
Humans are finite
Not able to comprehend or understand the infinite

18. German Idealists: Kant
Kant bases his belief in God on moral grounds, not supernatural existence
Kant’s five beliefs
Categorical imperative of Kant and physical education-sport
Sportsmanship and moral conduct in sport
Teach humanistic qualities espoused by Kant

19. Johan Fichte Concentrated on ethical writings that challenged humans
Believed that the phenomenal world we live in was designed to nurture and develop the “will” and develop character
Believed, unlike Kant, that the “thing in itself” was knowable
Evil is necessary: Catalyst for awakening the human spirit and spurring it to achievement

20. Johan Fichte
Human spirit would never achieve without the presence of evil
Human spirit and physical education: “Health of the body is essential to vigor of the mind and spirit development of the ‘self’”
Idealism—big association between mind, body, and spirit

21. Georg Hegel Consummate idealist
Reason can fathom all aspects of human experience
Epistemology = Thesis  antithesis  synthesis
Profound influence on Karl Marx
Places corporeal world as a limited or finite idea
Ultimate realities are within the realm of man’s reason
Body is inferior to mind and spirit
Assigned greater value to the ability to “know things” than Kant and other Idealists

22. Georg Hegel Portrait of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Image source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C.

23. Idealism, Sport, and Physical Education
Idealism demands healthy and fit body for each person to reach full potential
Mind would be at a disadvantage without a healthy and fit body
To develop the self includes development of the body
Idealism supports the inclusion of physical education

24. Idealism, Sport, and Physical Education
Idealism allows answer to “what is good”
“What is good” in education involves training toward moral ideals, not necessarily subject content
Physical education should include moral training as well as physical
The “moral imperative” applies to all aspects of sport and physical education
Moral imperative opposes
Exploitation of athletes
Low graduation rates

25. Idealism, Sport, and Physical Education
Achieving a superior life is the objective
Physical, intellectual, spiritual, and moral growth are desired
Students are to be evaluated not just by objectives tests but also subjectively—in terms of their “behavior, citizenship, and sociomoral conduct”

26. The Educators Johann Pestalozzi (1746-1827)
Theory of education: intellectual, moral, and practical
Practical education involved gymnastics and games as well as physical labor
Gave an important impetus to physical education as a school subject
Educational reforms would further physical education

27. Freidrich Froebel (1782-1852) Learned under a student of Pestalozzi’s
Believed in play as fundamental to growth and development
Theory of play supported physical education
“Play is the highest form of child development”
Observation, discovery, and creativity were necessary for developing skills

28. Friedrich Jahn
German nationalist who sought freedom from Napoleonic rule
Established secret society (German League)
Devoted to “spiritual renovation of Germany”
Called for nationwide physical education in all universities
Gymnastics teacher
Established turnen exercises and turnverein movement
Physical exercises as training to liberate Germany

29. Friedrich Jahn Friedrich Ludwig Jahn
Image source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C.

30. Jahn and Gymnastics Gymnastic events to spread nationalism
Jahn and Turners served in the wars of liberation from
Became underground movement after Germany won independence from France
Government suppressed movement
Three of Jahn’s students left for America
Provided basis for American physical education

31. Charles Follen Lawyer, political subversive in Germany
Fled to the U.S. in 1824
Hired at Harvard to teach German
Developed turnplatz at Harvard and at the Boston Gymnasium
Francis Lieber (also Jahn follower) replaced him in 1827

32. Charles Beck Classics scholar and theologian, followed Jahn
Sailed to U.S., taught at the Round Hill School
Round Hill: founded by Germans
First school to require mandatory physical education in the form of German gymnastics
Beck is credited with being first physical education teacher in America

33. Charles Beck’s Work Vaulting the horse, from the work of F. L. Jahn
Image source: Charles Beck, A Treatise on Gymnastiks, 1828

34. Franz Nachtegall Father of physical education in Denmark
Read GutsMuths and began to tutor students
Promoted gymnastics in all Danish schools
Achieved some success training teachers
Program was largely taken over by military teachers and military gymnastics

35. Per Henrik Ling Originator of “Swedish” gymnastics
Fundamental principles
Harmonious development of the body
Biological, physiological exercises
Exercises were developmental, corrective, and aesthetic
Progressive difficulty and rigor

36. Ling’s Gymnastics
Grounded exercise in medical and scientific knowledge of the day
Never caught on like Jahn’s system
Some success in Northeast United States