主办单位:成都体育学院
ISSN 1001-9154 CN 51-1097/G8

Journal of Chengdu Sport University ›› 2023, Vol. 49 ›› Issue (1): 38-44.doi: 10.15942/j.jcsu.2023.01.005

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Is E-Sports a Sport? Explanation and Solution Based on "Ontological Commitments"

ZHANG Zhen1,2   

  1. 1. College of Physical Education and Health, East Normal University, Shanghai 200241;
    2. Sino-French Joint Research Center of Sport Science, East Normal University, Shanghai 200241
  • Received:2022-04-11 Revised:2022-10-22 Online:2023-01-15 Published:2023-02-08

Abstract: Using the methods of documents and philosophical hermeneutics, based on a reflection on the "essentialist" paradigm-caused ontological fallacy underlying whether e-Sports is sport, this papers explores and explains the thought of ontological termination, and the puzzles of "family resemblance" and "hermeneutic cycle" in defining e-sports, and proposes a "ontological commitments" model. The model fuses the family resemblances of sport concept clusters into ontological denominators and takes them as a starting point to build a logical-empirical bridge between experience and logic. Based on this, the paper further explores the technical support needed to achieve the complete fusion of ontological commitments in e-Sports, and suggests that: under the technology and logic of virtual reality-metaverse, the "game-me-body-think-being" pattern is not only a sport that does not need additional ontological commitments, but also a higher-order sport of new form which integrates "virtuality-reality-physical strength-skill", and can promote a real change in the ontological sense. This will reverse the original ontological commitments model of sport, and shift our discussion from whether e-Sports is sport to whether a sport belongs to any particular eSports.

Key words: e-Sports, sports essence, ontological commitment, family resemblance, hermeneutic cycle, metaverse, sports philosophy

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