Quest, 64:4–23, 2012
Copyright © National Association for Kinesiology in Higher Education (NAKHE)
ISSN: 0033-6297 print / 1543-2750 online
DOI: 10.1080/00336297.2012.653268
What is Kinesiology? Historical and Philosophical
Insights
GREGG TWIETMEYER
School of Kinesiology, Marshall University, Huntington,
West Virginia
Twenty years ago Karl Newell suggested in Quest that the proper name for the field was “kinesiology”
and that its proper subject was “physical activity.” Yet, despite his success, for many the purpose
of the field remains enigmatic. This has led to a lack of clarity in programs, as well as tensions
between scientists and humanists in the field. This tension was conveniently summarized by C. P.
Snow’s famous “two cultures” thesis. Dissonance within the field is born of faulty and unexamined
philosophic commitments. This article reviews the historical and contemporary state of kinesiology
in an attempt to introduce readers to two of these unexamined philosophic commitments. The first
misunderstanding is metaphysical and regards the questions, “What is the nature of kinesis?” The
second misunderstanding is epistemological and regards the question, “What counts as knowledge?”
Answers to both questions—sometimes implicit, sometimes explicit—have had a great impact on the
field. This history deserves further attention.
Keywords Kinesiology, History, Philosophy, Two Cultures
“However, not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that
counts can be counted” (Cameron, 1963, p. 13).
The “name wars” are over. Although skirmishes still appear from time to time, although
pockets of resistance can still be found, it is safe to say that there is a consistent and apparently
irreversible trend in our discipline towards the name “kinesiology.” The truth of this
claim can be seen in, for example, Thomas and Reeve’s (2006) study of doctoral programs.
Of the top 20 programs in their ranking 14 had “kinesiology” as their name. Additional
evidence can be found in the recent founding of the American Kinesiology Association
(AKA). The AKA’s stated intent is to be a “strong national organization,” whose purpose
“is to promote and enhance kinesiology as a unified field of study” (2008). Clearly the trend
in our discipline is towards the name kinesiology.
My point however is neither to establish nor defend this trend. Instead, I intend to
examine the historical and philosophical meaning of this shift in nomenclature in hopes of
clearing a path forward for the discipline of kinesiology. It has been 20 years since Karl
Newell’s Quest articles helped set the present foundations of our discipline by successfully
arguing for kinesiology as the name of our field and physical activity as our subject.
Yet, in many ways, despite our continued coalescence under one nomenclature, our selfunderstanding
is as contentious and fractured as ever. Even with this dissention, a review
Address correspondence to Gregg Twietmeyer, Marshall University, School of Kinesiology, 104D
Gullickson Hall, Huntington, WV 25755. E-mail: twietmeyer@marshall.edu, twietg@yahoo.com
4
What is Kinesiology? Historical and Philosophical Insights 5
of the historical data shows that a vision of kinesiology that embraces a holistic and crossdisciplinary
understanding is possible. The oft dominant materialistic understanding of the
field of kinesiology is a choice, it is neither theoretically nor practically inevitable.
Prologue
Before beginning this historical review it must first be briefly explained how both ancient
(Aristotle) and modern (Polanyi) influences led me to investigate the historical and philosophical
foundations of kinesiology. During the course of my academic career suspicions
regarding the value of the conventional and dominant descriptions of kinesiology have been
deepened on two philosophic fronts. The first front was metaphysical. I was struck while
studying Aristotle’s definition of motion in the Physics (1995), how a geometric and spatial
understanding of “motion” was taken for granted in current definitions of kinesiology
and how different this conception was from Aristotle’s own understanding. Aristotle saw
kinesis as a matter of being, that is, as an ontological rather than merely geometrical reality.
Kinesis was central to human identity and to the nature of the cosmos as a whole. To be a
human being—for example—is to be more than a lump of chemicals, or a few pounds of
flesh. Rather, a human being is an organic whole that maintains its existence through engaging
the processes (the motions) of life appropriate to its nature. Therefore, kinesis, involved
more than merely change of place, and in the case of animals, could not be understood apart
from choice and perception. In short, motion was more than a material reality.1
After studying Aristotle, I began to wonder whether the definition of kinesis—from
which we derive the word kinesiology—had simply been taken for granted in the field.
The conventional understanding of kinesis in kinesiology is usually a materialistic one.
Motion is described in strictly mechanistic terms. According to this definition, motion is
phenomenal. It is the dislocation of mass in space. It is the result and domain of objects
rather than subjects. Motion is a necessary outcome of universal and impersonal laws, to
which human beings can be reduced. It is in such soil that a commitment to scientific
materialism grows in kinesiology. Scientific materialists argue that since reality consists of
only atoms and void, the investigative methods of the physical sciences are the only source
of human knowledge. If motion is merely a function of atoms, then it follows that all forms
of knowledge in kinesiology can be reduced to their underlying physical causes. This idea,
that science is a self-sufficient and all-encompassing guide to the nature of reality, is also
sometimes described as scientism.
It is true of course that not all scientists or scientific methodologies embrace the doctrine
of scientism. Dynamical systems theory (Kelso and Engstrom, 2006) or chaos theory
as well as quantum mechanics, have—some argue—challenged hard mechanistic models.2
Yet despite the openness of some scientists to a reality beyond matter, materialistic commitments
are still common both within kinesiology as well as the larger scientific community.
In fact, materialism is arguably the dominant (if largely unspoken) philosophy in the field.
As a result quantification is too often championed to the detriment of other types of knowledge
and richer understandings of motion. That being said, if scientific work based on
models such as dynamical systems theory or quantum mechanics actually makes challenging
the presuppositions of scientific materialism easier, so much the better. Some scientists
are even aware of and even open to Aristotelian ideas.
Organisms by contrast [to atoms, molecules, and crystals] are anything but
static structures. The ancients used to compare living beings to flames because
they thought of both as forms through which matter streams. It is quite unlikely
6 G. Twietmeyer
that we shall ever be able to determine by measurements which particular atoms
belong to a living being and which do not. The questions must therefore be put
as follows: Can quantum mechanics explain nature’s tendency to form structures
through which matter with fixed chemical properties can stream for a
limited time? (Heisenberg, 1971, p. 110)
Clearly, scientific research does not require that practitioners dogmatically embrace a
materialistic philosophy. Yet materialistic commitments are nonetheless widespread among
scientists. Acclaimed physicist Richard Feynman provides one powerful example of materialistic
thinking. Many other mainstream scientists such as Carl Sagan, Stephen Jay Gould,
Richard Dawkins, Francis Crick, and E. O. Wilson, could be quoted as well (Wallace,
2007). Feynman (1991) asserts that:
Everything is made of atoms. That is the key hypothesis. The most important
hypothesis in all of biology, for example, is that everything animals do, atoms
do. In other words, there is nothing that living things do that cannot be understood
from the point of view that they are made of atoms acting according to
the laws of physics (p. 17).3
Similar attitudes are not unknown in the world of contemporary kinesiology. The
recent article “Motor Control: The Heart of Kinesiology” by Mark Latash (2008), a leading
kinesiologist in the area of motor control, makes this abundantly clear. Latash opines
that, “The main challenge of motor control (and kinesiology in general) seems to be turning
it into an exact science, just like physics” (p. 27). Latash believes that motor control
is the heart of the field because “it combines approaches across most (if not all) of the
more-traditional components of kinesiology” (p. 23).What are these more traditional components
of kinesiology? According to Latash they are “anatomy, muscle physiology, and
physics,” as well as “neurophysiology, psychology, and mathematics” (p. 21). The humanities
are nowhere to be found in his program. The implication of this omission is clear. Only
scientific knowledge is real knowledge.
As the preceding sentence demonstrates, these metaphysical concerns bleed right into
the second front of philosophical investigation; epistemology. If doubts can be raised
regarding the scientific materialist’s belief that atoms and void comprised all of reality, then
doubts can also be raised regarding the claim that science is the only source of knowledge.
But what then constitutes knowledge?
Scientist and philosopher Michael Polanyi offered an answer. His theory, known as
“tacit knowledge” focused on examining the process by which knowledge is acquired.
In particular, Polanyi was worried about modern conceptions of objectivity. He believed
that a materialistic understanding of objectivity—despite the important discoveries and real
progress science itself has allowed—was “strictly speaking nonsensical” (1969, p. 41). The
strident scientism resulting from these types of scientific successes was mistaken. A scientized
conception of objectivity quarantined non-empirical knowledge by labeling its claims
as untrustworthy or worse yet wholly illusory.
On the materialistic view, any allegiance to the reality of consciousness, values, and
tradition get in the way of real knowledge because they cloud analysis, and are incapable
of being “objectively” measured. Polanyi offered a powerful anecdote regarding
the prevalence of this view. “When I urged a meeting of the American Association of the
What is Kinesiology? Historical and Philosophical Insights 7
Advancement of Science . . . to recognize the absurdity of regarding human beings as insentient
automata, the distinguished neurologist R. W. Gerard answered me passionately; ‘One
thing we know, ideas don’t move muscles’.” (1969, p. 46).
But ideas do move muscles. A commitment to the reality of intangibles does not
impede progress. As Polanyi pointed out, “no human mind can function without accepting
authority, custom and tradition: it must rely on them for the mere use of language”
(1969, p. 41). Without intangibles no knowledge of any kind is possible. Clearly Polanyi
not only wanted to make room for intangibles, he also felt that one cannot help but rely on
them, even in scientific inquiry.
The upshot of all this is the following: kinesiologists’ fundamental commitments
regarding motion, whether metaphysical or epistemological, have remained largely unexamined.
Though kinesiologists do not need to apologize for their commitments (materialistic
or otherwise) they do need to admit that they are in fact commitments. These
commitments—often unexamined—have shaped our understanding not only of the field
today but of its history as well. That is, the philosophic commitments within the field,
themselves have a history. They are not mere brute facts, but are rooted in inheritance.
These commitments and the history out of which they grew, in turn, shape how the history
of kinesiology is understood. If this is true, then kinesiologists must directly engage this
historical arc to properly comprehend and evaluate the field.
Finally, philosophic commitments and assumptions in kinesiology often fall along subdisciplinary
lines, ultimately pitting the sciences against the humanities. This academic
phenomenon, classically described by C. P. Snow in 1959 as the “two cultures,” is a great
threat to the discipline. These divisions within kinesiology can create an environment of
isolation, misunderstanding, and mutual suspicion between scientists and humanists. It may
even facilitate the disintegration of departments within the field.
Several contemporary examples of programs being put on the chopping block or outright
cut make the dangers created by these fractures within kinesiology tangible. For
example, the University of Iowa is considering eliminating graduate programs in Integrative
Physiology, Health and Sports Studies, and Exercise Science (June, 2010). It is hard to
argue that the defense of these programs—currently in separate departments—would not
be strengthened by being under the common umbrella of kinesiology.
The recent elimination of the Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) program
at Florida State University provides an additional warning. At Florida State the splintering
of kinesiology had been long established, leading Kinesiology Today author Shirl Hoffman
(2009) to question whether this fracturing was itself part to blame.
Whether or not the dispersal of the original department into smaller units
[begun in 1989] made the PETE program ripe for picking can’t be said with
any certainty. However, at a time when colleges and universities are forced to
look for increased efficiencies, programs that have been splintered off from
a multispecialist kinesiology department may find themselves struggling for
solid footing (p. 2).
The threat “two cultures” poses to kinesiology is a real and present danger. Polanyi argued
that it was the epistemological dichotomization of the tangible and intangible, as well as
the objective and the subjective that had set the stage for the “two cultures.” Different
conceptions of knowledge had led to different conceptions of the Academy, and all too
often, antagonistic relationships between researchers in different fields. Yet although the
debate is often characterized as “scientists vs. humanists,” the debate itself rests squarely
8 G. Twietmeyer
upon a philosophic question, “what counts as knowledge?” Once this point is understood,
it becomes clear that no inherent reason exists for antipathy between scientists and humanists.
Differing methodologies and differing research questions do not necessitate differing
epistemologies. The scientific method does not require a philosophical commitment to
materialism; just as the philosophic method does not require a commitment to humanism.
Consider for instance the following quote from the introduction of Werner
Heisenberg’s book Physics and Beyond (1971).
Science is made by men, a self-evident fact that is too often forgotten. If it is
recalled here, it is in the hope of reducing the gap between the two cultures,
between art and science. . . . Human, philosophical or political problems will
crop up time and again, and the author hopes to show that science is quite
inseparable from these more general questions (p. xvii).
The “two cultures” are then, in the end, two schools of philosophic thought not necessarily
aligned with different disciplines. The solution to reconciling the two cultures is not
a matter of changing “occupation type” but rather one of either altering one’s commitments
or at least broadening one’s outlook through philosophic and historical engagement. Such
philosophic engagement demonstrates that more than one understanding of field is rational
(even if only one is ultimately right), while historical engagement demonstrates that one’s
commitment’s are not merely one’s own but part of a larger story.
It is vital then to investigate the history of these ideas in light of the recognition that
particular metaphysical and epistemic commitments make up the foundation of kinesiology.
Aristotle and Polanyi both provide essential tools for examining these dilemmas. Aristotle’s
understanding of kinesis, as well as Polanyi’s epistemology shed vitally needed light on the
path towards a vibrant and reconciled field. Yet even if one ultimately rejects both thinkers,
it should be clear that “two cultures” in kinesiology are not inevitable. Although Snow may
have gone too far in reifying the two cultures, his fundamental propositions are alive and
well in departments of kinesiology. All too often there is an atmosphere of mistrust and
misunderstanding among scientists and humanists in the field (Hughson & Tapsel, 2006;
Booth, 1997). Furthermore this mistrust and misunderstanding, in concert with a ubiquitous
embrace of materialism within the field, has encouraged a neglect of the humanities in
kinesiology that further weakens the discipline.4
This historical and philosophical review will begin with C. P. Snow’s The Two Cultures
(1959) and the controversy surrounding it. Snow’s essay is important because it sheds
light on the mid-20th century relationship of the sciences and humanities, which deepens
historical insight regarding the place of kinesiology within the larger academic culture.
An examination of the history of kinesiology and physical education will follow Snow. This
history includes debates going back into the early twentieth century, regarding the proper
place of science in the field. James Bryant Conant (1963), and Franklin Henry (1964), who
are considered critical players in the transition from physical education to kinesiology, will
be the focal points of this examination. This historical analysis will show that the questions
regarding the unsettled nature of the field are not new, nor are questions regarding the
proper relationship of the sciences and the humanities in the Academy.
An analysis of vitally important articles from within the kinesiology literature itself
will close out the literature review.5
One set is well known, while the other has received
comparatively little attention. First are Karl Newell’s (1990a, 1990b, 1990c) Quest articles
on the topic of renaming and reorganizing the field. These essays had, and continue to have,
a significant impact on the field’s own self-understanding. Perhaps the most lasting impact
What is Kinesiology? Historical and Philosophical Insights 9
of Newell’s work is the widespread adoption of the name “kinesiology” in departments
around the United States. Two lesser known articles by philosopher Doug Anderson (2001,
2002) are vital as well. While Newell (1990b, 2007) acknowledges the importance of the
actual practice of physical activity, Anderson demands that activity in “Gym Class” (the
actual practice of skillful moving) provides a fundamental and human form of knowledge.
Literature Review
“The Two Cultures”
C. P. Snow published The Two Cultures in 1959. His book, a condemnation of the fractured
state of the academy, was originally given as a Rede lecture at Cambridge University in the
spring of 1959. Snow’s idea caused an immediate stir, generating both negative and positive
reactions. Most of the negative reaction focused on his specific analyses rather than his
more general assertion of existence of two cultures in the academy. Snow’s paradigm did
receive some criticism however. Critics alleged that Snow’s account of the Academy was an
oversimplified dichotomy that left no room for the existence of other “hybrid” groups such
as social scientists. Snow himself acknowledged his dichotomy as a useful but “dangerous”
characterization (p. 9).
In the body of the work, Snow argued that there was “a gulf of mutual incomprehension”
(p. 4) between proponents of the sciences and the humanities. This gulf was mutually
harmful. Scientific imagination was stunted, while across the great divide, the literary intellectuals
were inclined towards pessimism, as well as ignorance of the role that knowledge
of the natural world played in informing and improving culture.
Accordingly Snow scolded humanists for being “natural luddites” (p. 22), as well as
enemies of the industrial revolution. “If we forget the scientific culture, then the rest of
western intellectuals have never tried, wanted, or been able to understand the industrial
revolution, much less accept it” (p. 22). The danger created by such agrarian romanticism
was that it limited human potential and encouraged stagnation in areas of the world that
were desperate for improvement.
Snow believed—not without reason—that the greatest hope of mankind lay in the
advance of science, technology, and industry. He argued that it was easy to criticize
industrialization from within the comforts it had created. It was quite another thing,
absent such progress, to see, for example, “most of your children die in infancy” (p. 25).
Industrialization and the scientific revolution had all but eliminated hunger, reduced infant
mortality, and greatly increased life spans in the Western world. It followed, Snow argued,
that eliminating the gap between rich and poor nations in the rest of the world was simply
a matter of educating and organizing “enough scientists and engineers and technicians”
(p. 45).
While his work is insightful, particularly regarding the academic tensions between
scientists and humanists, Snow can be criticized from many angles. Snow’s chief detractor
was Cambridge professor Dr. F. R. Leavis, who was deeply concerned about the educational
merits or demerits of Snow’s emphasis on science. The substance of Leavis critique
was recently addressed in a Quest article by John Hughson and Christin Tapsell (2006).
Hughson and Tapsell point out that Leavis was concerned both by what he saw as the low
quality of Snow’s argument, as well as by the weight given by the academic community to
the argument of—what Leavis viewed as—a mediocre intellect. Leavis also worried about
the utilitarian overtones of Snow’s concern for economic development. Culture, Leavis
opined, was not reducible to material gain (Hughson & Tapsel, 2006, p. 414).
10 G. Twietmeyer
Snow was right of course to point out the very real benefits of economic development,
but his faith in science and technological development as the standard bearers of progress
does seem, especially in retrospect, naïve. Material gain is not without merit. But science
and technology do not exist in a vacuum. Social, political, and cultural values are as important
as technological breakthroughs to the advancement of human societies. Technology is
an impotent force, for instance, absent the rule of law. The journal Nature, commenting on
the fortieth anniversary of Snow’s lecture, made exactly this point. The editors of Nature
charged Snow with “optimistic technocratic naivety” (1999, p. 91).
Polanyi (1969) also commented on Snow’s lecture, although he took a very different
approach than did Leavis. Instead of attacking Snow’s qualifications or utilitarianism, he
simply advanced a full frontal challenge to Snow’s underlying thesis.
Sir Charles Snow complains about the gap between science and the rest of our
culture. I concur. But I see the problem in a different perspective. I don’t agree
that the influence of science on the rest of our thoughts is too feeble. On the
contrary, the claims made today on the minds of men in the name of science
are comprehensive (p. 40).
Polanyi then went on to elaborate how scientific rationalism has subsumed all claims
regarding human morality under a naturalistic explanation that “must ignore, and so by
implication deny, the very existence of human responsibility” (p. 42). Echoing his recently
completed work on tacit knowledge in his magnum opus Personal Knowledge (1962),
Polanyi closed the critique by insisting that “a humanistic revisionism can be secured only
by revising the claims of science itself” (p. 46).The humanities can only matter if the all
too pervasive philosophic commitment to materialism is wrong.
Conant, Henry, and the Birth of Kinesiology
An appreciation of the power of Snow’s lecture and the boldness of Polanyi’s counter claim
is deepened by remembering the historical context in which the debate was held. Sputnik,
the world’s first artificial satellite was launched by the Soviet Union on October 5, 1957 and
caused an immediate stir in the West (Soviets Fire Earth Satellite, 1957). Soviet superiority
in science and technology seemed self-evident (Soviet Claiming, 1957). Although there
were voices cautioning a more comprehensive reform of education, the general reaction to
the launch in the United States was to demand increased time and money spent on math and
science in American classrooms (The Educated Man, 1957). Catching up to the Soviets was
considered a matter of both national prestige and national security (Reston, 1957). Given
the spirit of the times, Polanyi’s decision to challenge an already robust scientific hegemony
is even more noteworthy.
In reaction to Sputnik, President Eisenhower established a “Science Advisory
Committee,” which among other things suggested federal scholarships for qualified students
in mathematics (Estrow, 1957). After consulting with some scientific advisors
Eisenhower announced at an October 30, 1957 press conference his goal of “awakening
the United States to the importance and, indeed, the absolute necessity of increasing our
scientific output of our colleges and universities” (Finney, 1957, p. 11). Two days later
Eisenhower commented that “The growing needs of our economy, defense and community
life require an ever increasing emphasis on the training of future engineers and scientists”
(Bigart, 1957, p. 8).
What is Kinesiology? Historical and Philosophical Insights 11
It was in the midst of this politically charged milieu that the work of former Harvard
president James Bryant Conant and University of California professor Franklin Henry was
published. Both are commonly credited with spurring physical education in the early 1960s
toward academic and scientific respectability. However the picture revealed by the historical
record is more complex.
James Bryant Conant undoubtedly ranks as one of the giants of twentieth century
American higher education. His influence extended from teaching and research to administration
and educational reforms. Despite the general historical importance of Conant’s
huge body of work, his 1963 text, The Education of American Teachers attracts the most
attention from sport historians and kinesiologists. In this text Conant offered what many
historians generally consider an extremely critical attack on what was then called physical
education.
According to conventional wisdom Conant’s criticism of physical education—
particularly physical education graduate programs—prodded a reluctant discipline into
academic respectability and diversity. Richard Swanson and John Massengale (1996) begin
their well respected volume, The History of Exercise and Sport Science, by stating that
Conant’s words “sent shock waves through, and a challenge to, the field” (p. 1). Such thinking
is reiterated by nearly all of the other chapter authors in their anthology. Sport historian
Nancy Struna’s (1996) comments on Conant are of particular interest. Struna emphatically
states that, “No history of a subdiscipline to which physical educators have contributed can
ignore James Conant, the president of Harvard University” (p. 155). Although the position
summarized by Struna has become ubiquitous, there are important reasons to question
this interpretation of Conant’s impact on kinesiology. As Struna herself admits, “whether
Conant’s charges, and the subsequent intellectual and political parrying, had the transformative
impact on the subdisciplines that some people have attributed to this episode remains
a question” (p. 156). In fact, Conant’s impact on the field, even if significant, is overstated.
It is physical educators’ own philosophic insecurity that is most noteworthy. Unfortunately
the history and impact of their own reaction to Conant has been largely ignored.
Evidence to support this re-conceptualization of Conant’s impact is not hard to find.
The headlines of the New York Times, which announced Conant’s reforms, did not scold
physical education. Rather, they lamented, “Teacher Training Scored by Conant as U.S.
Scandal” (Heichner, 1963, p. 1). In truth, no mention of physical education appears in
the text of the newspaper articles. This suggests that the reaction of physical educators
to Conant’s criticism, says more about what the discipline thought about itself than about
outside pressure causing reform.
Indeed, Conant’s (1963) criticisms of physical education amount to only a few paragraphs
out of the two hundred pages in the book. Such sensitivity on the part of physical
educators implies a far deeper vein of disquiet than could have been instigated solely by
Conant. Conant himself recognized this insecurity when he wrote,
As I have talked to teachers and professors active in the four areas [P.E., Art,
Music, Foreign Language] I am here exploring, I have become impressed with
an attitude something like an inferiority complex that seems to arise out of the
lively competition for the high school student’s time and interest (p. 181).
Such insecurity was reflected, not created by Conant, and was born from the tenuous
and contested nature of the discipline’s philosophic foundation(s). The problem, it would
seem, is that in 1963, just as today, the philosophic foundations of physical education and
kinesiology were insecure.
12 G. Twietmeyer
Conant himself alluded to this state of affairs when he pointed out that the public, as
well as the educational establishment, were unsure of the value of such pursuits.
The American public and the professional educators, then, are still a bit uncertain
as to why instruction should be provided in art, music, foreign languages,
and physical education. This uncertainty is reflected in the amount of time allotted
to the subjects in the schools and in the varying practice as to the optional
nature of the work. In only a few of the schools I have visited are the teachers
of all four satisfied with the positions accorded to their specialties (p. 180).
Conant dedicated a mere five pages of his text to physical education, not all of it critical.
Some of his thoughts, rather than being critical, are quite positive. For example, he
believed that physical education teachers have been labeled “suspect” (p. 185) because
they are overburdened; by teaching courses for which they haven’t been trained and by the
public pressures of coaching. For this reason Conant recommended that physical education
teachers should be certified only in physical education rather than multiple disciplines.
Conant also believed that the physical educator like the art or music teacher should be a
specialist.
Therefore, in the interest of this branch of the teaching profession, I suggest
the door should be firmly closed against such practices. The institutions and the
state, through the approved practice teaching program, should certify teachers
of physical education and hygiene but not physical education and mathematics
or similar combinations. The physical education teacher will also be a coach,
either intramural or interscholastic, and to my mind should be. He therefore has
two important functions to fulfill, and this should be sufficient (p. 185).
The fact that Conant called teaching physical education and coaching “two important
functions” should not be ignored. Whether the specifics of Conant’s recommendations
are advisable, “blaming” Conant for disrespecting physical education becomes a muddy
prospect. His overriding concern in The Education of American Teachers has nothing
to do with physical education. Instead his focus is to insist on “academic”—that is a
disciplinary—rather than a pre-professional model of teacher preparation. Conant’s work
is not seminal to kinesiology but rather fits into a broader history; a history of contention
and debate over the meaning, purpose and value of the field.
In fact, calls to “liberalize” or humanize the field, as well as calls to “intellectualize” the
field by making it more scientific, both preceded and followed Conant’s critique—just as
such disparate calls continue today. To properly understand the transformation of physical
education into kinesiology historians must look both beyond and before the work of James
Bryant Conant. The increasing emphasis on science in the mid-twentieth century United
States did not create, but rather rekindled, one side of the debate regarding the nature and
purpose of physical education. Calls to “scientize” physical education are far older than
Conant’s text, reaching back at least to the dawn of the 20th century.
Coming on the heels of The Education of American Teachers was another important
publication, Physical Education: An Academic Discipline by Franklin Henry (1964). In this
article, Henry claimed that proper academic status for physical education would only come
by grounding the discipline in theory. Henry argued that “an academic discipline is an
organized body of knowledge collectively embraced in a formal course of learning . . .
the content is theoretical and scholarly as distinguished from technical and professional”
What is Kinesiology? Historical and Philosophical Insights 13
(p. 32). Henry continued, “The development of personal skill in motor performance is without
question a worthy objective in itself. But it should not be confused with the academic
field of knowledge” (p. 33). The field would not be recognizable without “personal skill
in motor performance” yet according to Henry’s own paradigm, such skill does not actually
count as knowledge. In other words, physical education is academic as long it ignores
the actual practice of skilled physical activity. It is no wonder then, that Henry’s article
encouraged a scientific self-understanding in the field.
Philosopher Doug Anderson’s (2002) analysis of Henry’s claim—that there are such
limitations on “knowing” in kinesiology—is noteworthy. Anderson points out the costs of
committing the field solely to a “theoretical” and “scientific” self-definition. Additionally
Anderson’s analysis makes clear how such thinking rests on philosophic roots that have
been chosen rather than imposed.
From a humanist’s perspective, the attempt to lift physical education out of the
university ghetto by making it predominately scientific seems somewhat peculiar.
Such a move accounts for and overcomes a previous blindness of physical
education programs to the scientific dimensions of movement. Kinesiology
takes these seriously and makes students accountable for them. But such a
redemption seems incomplete. It leaves the rest of physical education just as
it was. The humanities of movement remain marginalized because they are not
scientific in any strict or positivistic sense; they are not simply identifiable as
“fields of knowledge.” Furthermore, movement courses themselves remain in
the ghetto as “just gym classes.” Implicitly if science is the way to save physical
education, the rest of its features must become ancillary at best (p. 89).
A recognizable shift towards science surely took place in physical education in the
1960s, and as Anderson argues, this shift to science has been good in many ways, but
these ideas and this debate long preceded Henry or Conant.6
Although Conant and Henry’s
impact on the field is real, it is often overstated. If this is correct, Conant’s criticisms—
no matter their impact—immediately become subordinate to this larger question. In other
words, criticisms are impotent without a reaction to them. Trying to understand why and
how physical educators overreacted to Conant reveals more than Conant’s criticisms themselves.
For the reaction speaks volumes about what philosophical insecurities drove the
evolution and growth of physical education in 20th century America.
Perhaps no scholar has done more to illuminate the foundations of American physical
education than Roberta J. Park. As Park (2005) points out repeatedly, the field of physical
education in America was born at the knee of medicine, and was most often sold on the
grounds of being either hygienic, preventative, or both.
In two important articles, Research Quarterly and its Antecedents (1980) and Of the
Greatest Possible Worth (2005), Park indentifies many pre-Conant instances of this urge.
Charles W. McCloy is perhaps the paradigm example. In 1928, McCloy argued that the
adoption of a scientific research methodology would “presage a new day in physical education,
and make of it a mature science.” (Park, 1980, p. 3) This was not the first time
McCloy had such thoughts. In 1921 he stated that the field would rise or fall on its adoption
of the scientific method. “Physical educators are not infrequently criticized- and justly- for
a lack of scientific method in their procedures” (Park, 2005, p. S11). McCloy’s insistence
on research and academic rigour, are in many ways (like Henry’s), quite admirable. The
danger, as Anderson (2002) points out, is in believing that science is the only respectable
14 G. Twietmeyer
lens through which to understand the discipline. Yet even Anderson’s rejoinder is not new.
In fact, these ideas pre-date Conant as well.
Several pre-Conant calls to humanize the field; (i.e., treat movement, play and games,
as inherently human activities that are of intrinsic worth), can be identified. Eleanor
Metheny and Lois Ellfeldt for instance, wrote in 1961, two years before Conant’s report
that:
Without belittling in any way the physiological and social concomitants of
man’s movement experiences, we value our theory because it identifies structured
movement experiences as a source of mental-emotional concepts that
are not only significant but essentially unique forms of human knowledge and
understanding . . . Physical education—or as we prefer to call it “movement
education”—can be identified as one of the forms of liberal education, comparable
with music and other non-verbal arts as the source of one of the kinds
of meaning that enrich man’s comprehension of reality as he knows it (1961,
pp. 289–290).
Of course it is well known to anyone who has studied sport history that visible evidence
of the importance of “man’s movement experiences” reaches back into antiquity (Miller,
2004), (Baker, 1982). For those who are willing to pay attention, the visceral appeal of
play and games throughout history offers important evidence of the intrinsic importance
of physical education. The ubiquity of games and play across time and culture is not a
matter of historical dispute. Nor should their near universal appeal be in doubt. As Jesse
Feiring Williams declared in 1959 regarding the proper focus of physical education, “There
seems to be one: stress at all times and everywhere the need of man for play, recreation and
wholesome leisure” (p. 78).
The mid-20th century turn toward “intellectual” and scientific conceptions of the field,
seems to be as much a result of this unsettled foundation, as it was the result of genuine
need for reform. Roberta J. Park rightly insists concerning these older uncertainties that,
“at the turn of the [twentieth] century the American Association for the Advancement of
Physical Education was by no means a stable organization with a clear sense of direction”
(1980, p. 1). The same thing could be said about the field of kinesiology today. The more
things have changed the more they have stayed the same. The current trends in kinesiology
towards a scientific and technical self-understanding are not the byproduct of necessary
and inevitable forces, nor are they the child of one moment or of one person’s criticism.
Rather kinesiology is the product of value-laden historical commitments, which have been
and continue to be, matters of contention.
The importance of recognizing this reality should be clear. The two cultures in
kinesiology are not inevitable in any sort of deterministic sense. The currently dominant
materialistic conceptions of the field are not the required historical outcomes of inherently
progressive forces. If these commitments were and are choices, rather than inevitabilities,
then these choices are open to examination, criticism, and revision.
Contemporary Voices within the Kinesiology Literature
Unfortunately the kinesiology literature often fails to directly address the epistemological
and metaphysical underpinnings that impact the definition of the field. More often one sees
subtle manifestations of the two cultures problem in methodological or epistemological
What is Kinesiology? Historical and Philosophical Insights 15
assumptions that have not been explicitly thought through (McFee, 2007). Such unexamined
presuppositions regarding the nature of kinesiology are so common that egregious
and some might even say offensive assertions are often missed in the kinesiology literature.
Because of this, opportunities for real insight, growth, and mutual understanding are
missed.
Two brief examples from the February 2007 issue of Quest should suffice to make
the point clear. The first is from McCullagh and Wilson’s article “What Should Students
Know?”
In our opinion, a well-rounded kinesiology program should offer courses from
all these areas. As we are well aware, however, many programs are heavy on
the biological side of the scale and slight on the humanities side partly due to
the greater funding sources available to the biological fields (p. 51).
Now, although many humanists will feel that this is a gross understatement, it is certainly
reasonable to assume that one of the reasons the humanities are slighted is due to a
lack of research funding opportunities. Yet the point should not and cannot be left at that!
Several deeper and more important questions need to be asked if one is really concerned
about the importance of the humanities in kinesiology. The title of the article is after all,
“What Should Students Know?” not “What will Attract Funding?”
What, for example, are the other reasons the humanities are slighted? One can only presume
that if McCullagh and Wilson can recognize that such de-emphasis is “partly due” to
research funding, they must have some inkling of other possible influences. Why are these
other possibilities not mentioned? Why are there funding disparities in the first place? What
do the funding disparities say about the larger culture’s philosophy and values? Are such
values justified? Do schools that are not primarily research institutions give any more attention
to the humanities than schools that are? If not, why not? Presumably, research funding
dollars would be a moot point at most if not all of these institutions. If the disparity continues
to exist at smaller institutions then the initial assertion itself can be called into question.
There must be some deeper reason for the precarious position in which the humanities find
themselves. By not focusing on these types of larger questions an important opportunity to
clarify and understand the current state of the field is missed.
A second example is provided by Michael Wade’s article “Quo Vadis Kinesiology”
(2007) in which he regularly refers to entire field as the “physical activity sciences” (p. 171).
Wade asserts that the key to moving the field forward is not unity of purpose but rather unity
of voice.
Now that we have gained admittance into the NRC [National Research
Council], it is time for us to seriously revisit the challenge of forming a single
comprehensive body to represent our field . . . Creating a “big tent” to
accommodate all elements of the physical activity sciences is not a new idea
and requires only a fundamental commitment to adopt a succinct name for our
field of study and refer to it as kinesiology. We should worry less about the
development of the body of knowledge . . . and focus solely on developing a
unified voice (p. 172). [Emphasis mine]
One cannot help but wonder about what Wade envisions this “unified voice” rallying
around? Why exactly is it so important to develop a unified voice if our self definition is so
unimportant? On what philosophic grounds, other than crass utilitarianism, would such an
16 G. Twietmeyer
assertion make any sense? Perhaps on the grounds that one has already implicitly endorsed
science as the rallying point? But how then does “physical activity sciences”, even if read
generously, encompass a “big-tent”?
While such superficial thinking, that ignores the deeper philosophic questions at play in
the field of kinesiology, can be seen as symptomatic of the very problem, the situation may
not be as bleak as it seems. Some important articles have also been written on the nature and
mission of kinesiology which directly address metaphysical and epistemological questions,
and give kinesiologists the opportunity to make principled decisions about the future of
the field. Among the most important are the work of Karl Newell (1990a, 1990b, 1990c,
2007) and Doug Anderson (2001, 2002).
Karl Newell’s (1990a, 1990b, and 1990c) Quest articles on the topic of renaming and
reorganizing the field are of extreme importance. As mentioned previously, these articles
profoundly impacted the direction of the field, and also led to the widespread adoption of
the name “kinesiology.” Newell’s recent follow-up article (2007) essentially reiterates his
previous position. For that reason this analysis will focus mainly on the 1990 articles.
Newell’s two most enduring and important points in these articles are that the heart
of the disciple can and should be “physical activity” and that the appropriate name for the
field should be “kinesiology.” Newell (1990b) conceives the state of the field as fractured
mainly due to misunderstandings over the sub-disciplines commonalities, which are best
expressed under the rubric of physical activity. “This situation is due in part to the fact that
there no longer appears to be a central theme that constrains and organizes the traditional
field of physical education in higher education” (p. 243).
Newell believes that physical activity “very broadly defined” (p. 247) is the most inclusive
and appropriate label for the field on the grounds that, “there are political and economic
advantages to pursuing a broad physical activity agenda” (p. 247). Newell argues that such
an inclusive definition allows for, and recognizes an already broad research agenda. This
in turn creates a more integrated (and academic) pursuit of the different knowledge types
in which the field engages; the declarative, or “knowing-that” versus the procedural or
“knowing-how.” A more limited definition of the field, Newell insists, would stunt such
symbiosis.
If exercise and sport are the only activity subdomains of the broader physical
activity category to be studied, then it is likely that their focus will largely be
applied research. One would expect scientific theories to be general to physical
activity and not particular to, for example, activities that are constructed as
sport. This is not to propose that sport does not provide some different and
interesting constraints to action. Rather, it proposes that an overarching goal of
academic fields is the establishment of general theories of physical, natural and
social phenomena (p. 247).
Interestingly enough, even while making his case, Newell does point out some worrisome
tendencies in the field that nonetheless fit into his schematic. These include the
“increasing trend” (p. 250) towards a theory dominated field, as well as the deterioration
of the “value of physical activity as traditionally examined and understood by the
humanities” (p. 250). At least the humanities are, by relying on theory, appropriately academic.
Procedural knowledge (know-how) has fared even worse. Newell argues that this is
because of “the failure of performance oriented-scholars to articulate the basis of procedural
knowledge” (p. 257), a contention for which he is later criticized by Anderson.7
What is Kinesiology? Historical and Philosophical Insights 17
Building on his assertions regarding the pragmatic advantages presented by “physical
activity,” Newell opines that the name of the field should likewise change to kinesiology
(1990c). Similar to his previous argument regarding physical activity, he argues that
kinesiology is appropriately inclusive, unlike titles that include “sport” or “exercise.”8
Kinesiology also sounds academic and scientific.9
Finally, the title kinesiology does not
carry the cultural connotations or philosophical baggage of a more traditional name such
as physical education.
Despite problems in Newell’s argument, there is certainly weight to such pragmatic
concerns. As mentioned at the beginning of this article, it is not the name kinesiology that
needs to be disputed, but rather the meaning of the term. Kinesiology is an appropriate
name for the field. The impact that this name choice has on the meaning and nature of the
discipline is quite another matter.
The endorsement of “physical activity,” as the core of the field has the same problems.
The main criticism again regards the meaning of the term, and whether or not it
is actually, both in theory and practice, too broad a characterization of the field’s core.
In practice, physical activity thus defined has lead to inanities.10
For example, in the
textbook Introduction to Kinesiology (2000), the definition of physical activity, following
Newell, includes everything that admits of being “intentional, voluntary movement
directed toward achieving an identifiable goal.” This definition includes “typing, handwriting,
sewing, and surgery” (Hoffman & Harris, p. 8). Accordingly, when sport and exercise
“receive primary attention” it is not because of any inherent relationship to the field, but
because, “kinesiology is historically linked to physical education”11
(Hoffman & Harris,
p. 11). Under such a paradigm, the relationship between sport and kinesiology is precarious
indeed.12
It is worth pointing out that this definition of “physical activity,” in principle, also
includes first and second degree murder, sexual intercourse, and not meaning to be crass,
defecation. All of the aforementioned activities are motor-oriented, intentional, voluntary,
and directed towards a goal. The exclusion of these types of areas from active study in
kinesiology is apparently purely arbitrary and historically contingent.
Yet, my concern is not over abstraction as such, but rather over the philosophic motivation
for moving towards what I cannot help but deem overly abstract descriptions of the
field; descriptions that effectively empty it of any unifying content.13
If physical activity is a
comprehensive (or placeholder) term, meant to summarize the specific contents of the field
(play, games, sport, etc.), then the abstraction makes sense. A commitment to “physical
activity” absent such underlying specificity is a mistake.
Daryl Siedentop (1990) also critiques Newell’s concern for inclusion. Siedentop predicts
that such an emphasis will negatively impact the two cultures in kinesiology.14
He
argues that Newell’s analogies regarding department names—Dept. of Christianity which
Newell argues is too exclusive vs. Dept. of Religion which Newell favors—are both
unconvincing and dangerous.
The more appropriate term for Newell’s analogy would be department of belief
since belief, like physical activity, is sufficiently inclusive. Religion, like sport,
is a cultural institution, an expression of human social organization and life.
Physical activity, like belief, is a more fundamental phenomenon, without the
restrictions that define cultural institutions such as religion, sport, art, music,
or drama. The more restricted definitions, of course, are precisely what infuse
those fields with shared meanings, allowing persons within the field to pursue
often diverse work that is still clearly interrelated . . . physical activity, whether
18 G. Twietmeyer
intentional or not, is largely devoid of cultural meanings and therefore lacks
the restrictive boundaries within which shared meanings provide scholars with
reasons to value diverse work and, on occasion, with reason to work together
(p. 316).
Siedentop reminds kinesiologists that for all the important benefits of defining the
field’s core as physical activity, there are also important, perhaps even prohibitive costs.
Yet, as persuasive as Siedentop is, his criticism should not lead kinesiologists to re-open
the name wars. The fight over terminology is not as important as what philosophy motivates
the selection of the terminology and what that terminology signifies. If the proponents of
the term physical activity are unashamed of the central role of games, play, and sport in
kinesiology then the label makes sense. If they are not, then I am convinced they will only
hasten disintegration within the field. Even Hoffmann and Harris, who apparently are true
believers in Newell’s thesis, admit that sport and exercise are kinesiology’s primary focus.
If this is true, why then hide from it? Perhaps the desire to hide from, or mask the important
role of sport in kinesiology, is a function of misunderstanding kinesis; both metaphysically
and epistemologically.
The powerful influence of games, play, and sport as cultural institutions is clearly articulated
in philosopher Doug Anderson’s articles, “Recovering Humanity: Movement, Sport,
and Nature,” (2001) and “The Humanity of Movement or ‘It’s not Just Gym Class’” (2002).
In “Recovering Humanity,” Anderson (2001) reminds kinesiologists of the power of sport
experiences to wake one to their own humanity. Anderson laments that “Civilization insofar
as it becomes merely habitual, has the tendency to eliminate our spontaneity and make us
automata” (p. 141). The creative and embodied nature of sport, has the potential to counteract
such sedation, by creating “borderland” experiences between sleepy “over-civilization”
and brutish “under-civilization” (2001). Anderson emphasizes the role sport can play in
self-understanding.
In such instances, I think it is fair to say that sport and movement allow us to
realize and re-create ourselves. By this I don’t mean that we come to some final
consummation of being, but that we bring our full range of powers and energies
to life—we become fully human (p. 145).
As Anderson (2002) points out in his second article, “The Humanity of Movement,”
gym class is then anything but a triviality in kinesiology. Anderson claims that the growth
of the sciences in kinesiology was a valuable and intrinsically important development.
Nonetheless, this growth was philosophically flawed. The growth of the sciences was in
part an attempt to “produce respectability on two fronts” (p. 88). The first front, following
Henry, was academic respectability. The second front was utility, which led to Michael
Ellis’s (1987) famous claim that “physical education will be reconceptualized as a retail
service” (p. 84).
Anderson laments the tendency of scientific generalization and reductionism to
marginalize the humanities of movement. He insists that the actual practice of culturally significant
movement forms is a humanizing experience that must be treated as such. It should
not be ignored or explained away. In such experiences, “we aim at excellence and virtuosity;
we encounter limits and failures; we learn the ‘thisness’ of movement, not just the
theoretical ‘how’ or the ‘what’” (p. 91). The “thisness” of the experience is imperative, for
“this good [of movement experience] cannot be argued for nearly so well as it can be felt
in the actual experiences of moving” (p. 93). The magic of “chasing-down a fly ball in the
What is Kinesiology? Historical and Philosophical Insights 19
gap” cannot be fully captured by description; whether verbal or mathematic, mechanistic
or artistic. It must also be felt.
Echoing Siedentop, Anderson argues that such specific movement experiences are
what can create a “new passion for the profession” (p. 95). This new passion “must come
from the perennial heart of its studies, from reawakening to the experiences of movement”
(p. 95). The humanities are essential to kinesiology. “If kinesiology is to be fully redeemed,
science must be complemented by the humanities of movement—the features of movement
experience that generate, disclose, or develop personal and social meanings and virtues”
(p. 91). According to Anderson, the human experience of moving—whether on the ball
field or in the dance studio—cannot be trivialized. Nor can such experiences be reduced to
the math and science of atomic particles.
What of motion itself? How should it be understood? Are Aristotle’s insights worth
considering? Can kinesis be appropriately described and defined in the terms of geometry
and physics? What does kinesis mean? What role should the concept of kinesis play in its
namesake, the discipline of kinesiology? Such questions deserve serious attention in the
discipline of kinesiology. For the assertion that moving is a humanizing experience raises
fundamental questions about the nature of kinesis itself; particularly regarding the relationship
of motion to our humanity. This insight raises further questions about what it is to be
a human being, which in turn will impact kinesiologists’ understanding of the nature of
knowledge. Questions such as these—even when absent sufficient answers—demonstrate
why history and philosophy are so important to kinesiology. Our answers will shape the
future of kinesiology, just as past answers have shaped the present.
Epilogue
Aristotle and Polanyi’s insights offer the opportunity to strengthen and clarify the foundation
of kinesiology. Aristotle helps kinesiologists see that our field is not trivial, but at the
very heart of what it means to be human. Polanyi reminds kinesiologists that all knowledge
is born of the skilled engagement of the knower with the known. Contrary to materialistic
assumptions, science is not a superior way of knowing.
Given the unsettled nature of the field (Rikli, 2006; Wade, 2007; Latash, 2008), such
clarification is important. One of the most important lessons Aristotle can teach is his underlying
commitment to observation. For Aristotle, philosophy was dialectical and therefore
ultimately a historical process by which one progresses towards knowledge. Philosophy
proceeded from our experience and our inheritance up towards first principles. Such a
paradigm is dependent on the cultivation of observation and the cultivation of practice.
For the connoisseur—Polanyi (1962) continually insists—gains the skills to see things that
the novice cannot.
Connoisseurship, like skill, can be communicated only by example, not by precept.
To become an expert wine-taster, to acquire a knowledge of innumerable
different blends of tea, or to be trained as a medical diagnostician, you must go
through a long course of experience under the guidance of a master (p. 54).
If we kinesiologists pay attention, and really observe human life, it becomes abundantly
clear that embodiment and kinesis are characteristic of, rather than incidental to, our
humanity. Furthermore it becomes clear that human beings are more than a mere aggregation
of chemicals beholden to physical laws. We “make love,” “jump for joy,” and “sink
into depression.” We slide “just under the tag,” “run to daylight,” and “catch our second
20 G. Twietmeyer
wind.” Though these expressions are certainly figures of speech, they are built on tangible
embodied realities. We are corporeal beings for whom touch is our greatest form of intimacy.
We are moving beings that are at home running, jumping, catching, throwing, and
kicking. We are embodied beings who dance, play and compete. We are social, temporal,
and communal beings that are born, grow, inherit and belong.
What, given these insights, is kinesiology? Perhaps it is best to offer an answer that
serves as a beginning rather than an end. Kinesiology is a human discipline,15
born of,
and reliant upon the embodied, curious, political and rational nature of human beings. The
field examines physical activity from a myriad of scholarly perspectives, with physical
activity being understood not as an abstract or literal moniker, but rather as the placeholder
term for culturally significant and recreative movement forms. Games, play, sport, exercise,
dance (among others) are central to who we are and what we do. If physical activity is
understood in this way, then the field is as reliant upon “ethics” as much as it is reliant upon
“biology.” Human kinesis is a function of all aspects of the human person whether those
aspects are physiological or just plain logical. Kinesiology is neither a pure science nor
solely a member of the humanities, but rather a field that necessarily encompasses both.
Notes
1. Human beings eat, sleep, breathe and grow. Human beings also learn, value, and desire. This
activity is dependent on material without being reducible to material. To understand motion in
human beings one must understand human beings as such. For the kinesiologist baseball is as
important as biomechanics, as both are bound up in what it means to be human.
2. In so far as I understand quantum mechanics and chaos theory, they do not necessarily change
materialistic commitments among scientists. A more “chaotic” universe does not require the
immaterial. The universe is merely a more complicated and unpredictable “machine.” Quantum
mechanics on the other hand, if it is interpreted as a theory that emphasizes the necessity of the
conscious observer, can combat the mechanistic worldview of materialistic scientists.
3. It is true that understanding atoms helps us understand livings things, but a closer reading reveals
that that type of limited claim is not what Feynmann has in mind. Why else would he say that
“everything animals do atoms do.” [Emphasis Added] It seems clear that Feynmann thinks that
livings beings can be completely understood by understanding atoms.
4. This neglect is tangible. A review of doctoral programs published by the American Academy
of Kinesiology and Physical Education (AAKPE; 2006) reveals one quantifiable reason many
scholars are concerned about the future of the humanities in kinesiology. According to AAKPE’s
data, there are approximately 212 total Ph.D. program options at the 61 kinesiology doctoral
institutions in the United States. The number is approximate because some programs failed report
what options they offered. Of these 212 options only 15—or 7.1%—can in any way be characterized
as programs in the humanities. To arrive at these numbers, I included sociology, sport
studies, and history and philosophy of sport in the definition of humanities. These statistics also
include variants on the three general categories above such as, The University of Maryland’s
“Sport Commerce & Culture,” and The University of North Carolina’s “Sociohistorical Studies
of Physical Activity.”
5. There is a significant literature on these topics outside of kinesiology as well, some notable works
include those of B. Alan Wallace (2000, 2007) and Stephen Jay Gould (2003). Wallace, builds on
the work of American philosopher William James, by arguing for a broader and more inclusive
definition of science itself. Gould argues in The Hedgehog, the Fox, and the Magister’s Pox that
reconciliation between scientists and humanists must be built on mutual respect, as well as the
notion of “NOMA” or “non-overlapping magesteria” (p. 87).
6. “The sciences are important, and the thrust of Henry’s essay is that they have been neglected.
At the same time, however, honoring science to the exclusion of the humanities of movement
can have disastrous consequences; specifically it bodes an inattentiveness to the creative
What is Kinesiology? Historical and Philosophical Insights 21
and disciplinary features of movement experiences that yield personal and social meaning”
(Anderson, 2002, p. 89).
7. “But this is to ask procedural knowledge or know-how to be what it is not, to measure it by
a standard that is not appropriate to it. It is a kind of category mistake . . . The practice of
movement, like the practices of music, art, poetry, and teaching, is the basis of any theorizing
about movement and it is ultimately the site of any testing of theory” (Anderson, 2002, p. 94).
8. An amusing but disturbing instance of this can be found in the Quest article “Sociology of Sport:
Expanding Horizons in the Subdiscipline” (2006). Author Janet C. Harris takes the liberty to
clean up the CV of Sport Philosopher Scott Kretchmar, by labeling him a “physical activity
philosopher” (p. 86). Ironically enough Harris’ whitewash of Kretchmar’s qualifications occurs
in a section of her paper where she lauds his insistence on the “importance of encouraging people
to go beyond duty and fun in order to experience richer meanings in physical activities” (p. 85).
Harris apparently fails to consider the fact that specificity might have something to do with
“richer meanings.”
9. Newell is not alone. As we have seen, Latash (2008) is not shy about proclaiming the need for
kinesiology to become a hard science. “Motor control (and kinesiology) should help itself and
by 2050 become a respected science” (p. 29).
10. It has encouraged other problems as well. Newell (2007) himself admits, the “practice and performance
of physical activity is increasingly being de-emphasized if not eliminated from physical
activity programs in higher education” (p. 10). The inherently contradictory nature of this statement
is obvious. How can a discipline dedicated to physical activity “eliminate physical activity”
from its program?
11. Setting aside the issue of contingency; if kinesiology is really about physical activity thus
defined, then using the historical relationship to physical education as a justification of sport
and exercise remains problematic. For if physical activity is the core of the field, then even the
historical affinity of physical education for sport and exercise is in need of reform, which is
exactly what Newell suggests (1990c, p. 277).
12. In what almost sounds like doublespeak Rikli (2006) says that “sport psychology and sport
sociology are very important parts of the kinesiology curriculum, but courses on these narrower
topics might be best conceived as electives, for those with an interest in sports studies, rather
than as a part of the core curriculum” (p. 300) [Emphasis Added]. One can’t help but wonder
how an elective can be labeled “very important”? Notice too that she mentions social sciences,
but no strictly humanistic disciplines. Furthermore, what is the home for sport studies if not
kinesiology? Is “physical activity” allowed to have any specific contents? It is true however
that if the humanities are not part of the core curriculum there will soon be no “two cultures”
problem, because there will be no humanists left in kinesiology departments. In other words the
fragmentation and dismantling of kinesiology departments that Rikli laments may be the logical
outcome of her own philosophy.
13. Departments of music are not called the department of “rhythmic activity” nor are Art departments
thrown into paralysis over the fact that their title is actually “too broad.” For they know
and are unashamed of their subject matter, whatever it is called. “Art” means, sculpture, painting,
drawing, ceramics, and so on, even though in actuality the term could encompass everything
from dance, to film, to carpentry. In so far as “physical activity” is trumpeted implicitly or explicitly
on the grounds that it hides, embellishes, or legitimizes our subject matter, such a label is
a mistake. Although such “deception” could be argued for on strategic grounds, it comes at too
high of a cost, that of the field’s own self-understanding.
14. “And it is the mistake [‘physical activity’ being devoid of cultural meaning] (for that is what I
believe it to be) that will make kinesiology departments increasingly hostile places for the social
sciences and humanities” (Siedentop, 1990, p. 316).
15. This should in no way be understood as a denigration of science within the field. Scientific
research in kinesiology is vital. Rather, to call kinesiology a human discipline is to emphasize
the central role the field has in our self-understanding (as human beings) and to insist that a stoic,
dispassionate, acultural or detached examination of human kinesis is impossible.
22 G. Twietmeyer
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