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.Kada promatramo sport u kontekstu (bio)etike, često smo usmjereni na
pitanja poput fair playa, vrlina u sportu, rodnih pitanja ili rasizma. Međutim,
rijetko postavljamo pitanje bioetičke opravdanosti sporta per se. Slobodna borba
(eng. ultimate fight ili mixed martial arts; MMA) u posljednjih 15-ak godina
doživljava procvat, svojom dinamikom i kombiniranjem elemenata različitih
tradicionalnijih borilačkih vještina i sportova polako preuzimajući primat
popularnosti od to tada najpopularnijeg borilačkog sporta – „plemenite vještine“
boksa. Pitanja koja se nameću u trokutu slobodne borbe, sporta i bioetike su
raznovrsna. Može li se bioetički opravdati, u svrhu zabave i sporta, svjesno
ozljeđivanje druge osobe? Koliko je opravdano da sami sebe svjesno izlažemo
riziku od ozljede? Što je s ostalim neizravnim sudionicima ovoga sporta poput
organizatora, promotora, navijača, osoba koje na neki način imaju koristi (bilo
materijalne bilo nematerijalne) iako nisu izravno uključene u borbu? Na ova je
pitanja, osobito na aspekt prava ozljeđivanja i samo-ozljeđivanja, jednostavno
odgovoriti koliko i na pitanje imamo li moralno pravo oduzeti vlastiti život.
Ipak u ovome ćemo se članku najviše pozabaviti pitanjem općeg opravdanja
slobodne borbe kao legitimnog bioetičkog problema. Ponudit ćemo primjer
jedne perspektive, te pokazati kako sama ideja iza sporta se može promatrati
kao legitiman problem, istraživanjem definicija nasilja, štete, i, u konačnici,
filozofskih pojmova dužnosti i dostojanstva, uz pomoć rada Immanuela Kanta
