Doping and The Participatory Responsibility of Sports Physicians

• In this paper it will be argued that notwithstanding the need for more clear regulative measures in relation to sports physicians’ doping behaviour, the predominant medical/legalistic approach in/by itself is not sufficient, and fails in doing what sports anti-doping authorities whish it to do, i.e., to define and to assign sports physicians’ responsibility in an adequate way. High-performance sport is a form of social practice and sports physicians are an integrated part of the practice. In dealing with such a large-scale social process as high-performance sport, the above approach is lacking since it (a) proceeds from a conception of responsibility which limits the scope of responsibility in athletic settings, and (b) overlooks social aspects of responsibility and responsibility-attributing processes. Furthermore, it will be maintained that responsibility is relational, and as such, it is chiefly created and assigned within the social practice, rather than imposed from authoritative sources that are external to the practice itself. It will be concluded that sports physicians, given their position in relation to athletes and sports management, should actively assume prospective responsibilities beyond those pre- defined responsibilities that are expressed in rules, regulations and policies issued by sports’ governing bodies.

Ämnesord

HUMANIORA  -- Filosofi, etik och religion -- Etik (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Philosophy, Ethics and Religion -- Ethics (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Sports Physician

Doping

Responsibility

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)