Monte Carlo Simulation of the Three-dimensional Ising Spin Glass

We study the 3D Edwards-Anderson model with binary interactions by Monte Carlo simulations. Direct evidence of finite-size scaling is provided, and the universal finite-size scaling functions are determined. Using an iterative extrapolation procedure, Monte Carlo data are extrapolated to infinite volume up to correlation length \xi = 140. The infinite volume data are consistent with both a continuous phase transition at finite temperature and an essential singularity at finite temperature. An essential singularity at zero temperature is excluded.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures. Proceedings of the Workshop "Computer Simulation Studies in Condensed Matter Physics XII", Eds. D.P. Landau, S.P. Lewis, and H.B. Schuettler, (Springer Verlag, Heidelberg, Berlin, 1999

Philosophy and Sport [Book Review]

A review of the book “Philosophy and Sport” edited by Anthony O’Hear

Questions of Athletic Excellence and Justice in Sport

This essay delineates and analyzes two kinds of questions that sport ethicists tend to ask: (1) questions about athletic excellence and (2) questions about justice. To pass ethical judgements when delving into questions concerning athletic excellence, sportspeople rely largely on a sport’s internal values, primary skills, or sport-specific athletic excellences. In contrast, questions about justice do not and should not include the reference or application of principles derived from the nature of a sport. Instead, sportspeople must refer to general theories, most often based on the rights and obligations of fellow citizens. There are multiple benefits to pointing out this distinction. First, it can help sportspeople and sport philosophers recognize the normative standards most appropriate within specific debates. Second, the distinction may explain why some disputes in sport philosophy remained unresolved. Finally, and perhaps most significantly, an awareness of the differences between these types of questions enables us to pose a further query. To which of the two discourses about sport ethics should sport philosophers lend the majority of their efforts? By adopting Susan Okin’s analysis of the role of morality in families, this paper suggests that questions about justice in sport carry greater moral import and should be resolved prior to questions of athletic excellence

The Compatibility of Zero-Sum Logic and Mutualism in Sport

This essay argues that within competitive sport zero-sum logic and the theory of mutualism are compatible and complementary. Drawing on Robert Simon’s theory of mutualism and Scott Kretchmar’s argument for zero-sum logic, this article shows how athletes can strive for a clear-cut victory and shared benefits such as athletic excellence fully and wholeheartedly at the same time. This paper will also consider how acknowledgment of this dynamic could advance understandings for ethical theories for sport. It will then conclude by describing a subjective approach that will make the affinity of zero-sum logic and mutualism more accessible for sports people

The Flying Finn's American Sojourn: Hannes Kolehmainen in the United States, 1912–1921

Shortly after he won three gold medals and one silver medal in distance running events at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, Finland's Hannes Kolehmainen immigrated to the United States. He spent nearly a decade living in Brooklyn, plying his trade as a mason and dominating the amateur endurance running circuit in his adopted homeland. He became a naturalised US citizen in 1921 but returned to Finland shortly thereafter. During his American sojourn, the US press depicted him simultaneously as an exotic foreign athlete and as an immigrant shaped by his new environment into a symbol of successful assimilation. Kolehmainen's career raised questions about sport and national identity – both Finnish and American – about the complexities of immigration during the floodtide of European migration to the US, and about native and adopted cultures in shaping the habits of success. His return to Finland ultimately turned the American ‘melting pot’ narrative on its head

Getting Physical: The Rise of Fitness Culture in America [Book Review]

A review of the book “Getting Physical: The Rise of Fitness Culture in America” by Shelly McKenzie

The Ethos of Excellence

The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to the normative role of conventions in sports. However, the approach I have in mind does not dispatch the theory of interpretivism. What I offer is a synthesis that aims to show how interpretivism works in concert with – and relies heavily on – conventions. To make this point, I will argue that historical, cultural, and even simple preferential needs and desires help to determine what counts as athletic ‘excellence’ in sports

Finding Wilderness through Games

In forms of physical recreation associated with ‘wilderness experiences’, such as backcountry hiking or mountain climbing, technology is omnipresent. As a result, some may wonder whether genuine wilderness experiences are possible. In this essay, I argue that wilderness experiences are possible and that they can be enhanced through games. That is, I contend there are often physically challenging aspects to wilderness experiences that certain games can help to promote. This analysis will stress the fact that Bernard Suits delineated two comparable but distinct ways to engage in games. Following Suits’s logic, I explain how ‘literal skills’ like walking or climbing can function as the ‘constitutive skills’ of games. I then consider how games predicated on ‘literal skills’ can help promote the meanings available in wilderness experiences

Escaping into Nature: The Making of a Sportsman-Conservationist and Environmental Historian [Book Review]

A review of the book “Escaping into Nature: The Making of a Sportsman-Conservationist and Environmental Historian” by John F. Reiger

Trout Culture: How Fly Fishing Forever Changed the Rocky Mountain West. [Book Review]

A review of the book “Trout Culture: How Fly Fishing Forever Changed the Rocky Mountain West” by Jen Corrine Brown