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Ontological and epistemological approaches to physical
activity and sport in the thought of Plato and Aristotle:
philosophical dialogues between the past, present and
future
Synytsia, Andrii
1
Correo: andrii.synytsia@pnu.edu.ua
Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6608-919X
Rymyk, Roman
2
Correo: roman.rymyk@pnu.edu.ua
Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4180-6636
Malanyuk, Lyubomyr
3
Correo: liubomyr.malaniuk@pnu.edu.ua
Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4698-6525
Leshchak, Oleksandr
4
Correo: oleksandr.leshchak@pnu.edu.ua
Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9237-3060
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15453887
Abstract
The main objective of this research is to examine the ontological and
epistemological dimensions of sport activity in the philosophical thought of Plato
and Aristotle, exploring how these universal thinkers integrated gymnastic and
athletic practices in their systems of thought. From this objective arose some
questions of interest, such as: In what way does gymnastics, together with music,
constitute an essential educational element in the political-pedagogical project
developed in the Republic? Or in what sense does the pentathlete represent a
1
Department of Sports and Pedagogical Disciplines, Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University,
Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine.
2
Department of Sports and Pedagogical Disciplines, Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University,
Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine.
3
Department of Sports and Pedagogical Disciplines, Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University,
Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine.
4
Department of Sports and Pedagogical Disciplines, Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University,
Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine.
Sección: Artículo científico 2025, julio-diciembre, año 5, No. 10, 1314-1347
Clío. Revista de Historia, Ciencias Humanas y Pensamiento Crítico
ISSN: 2660-9037 / Provincia de Pontevedra - España
Año 5, No. 10, julio-diciembre
, 2025
Synytsia, Andrii
Rymyk, Roman
Malanyuk, Lyubomyr
Leshchak, Oleksandr
Ontological and epistemological approaches to
physical activity and sport in the thought of
Plato and Aristotle: philosophical dialogues
between the past, present and future
Página
1315
model of virtue and beauty that illustrates the doctrine of the Aristotelian middle
ground? The results obtained allow us to conclude that, in philosophical terms,
when it is possible to link conceptual rigor with practical relevance, the philosophy
of sport can reclaim its primordial place as a tool for transforming sporting reality
and not only as an interpretative exercise. As the rereading of Plato and Aristotle
suggests, the real triumph is not in beating others, but in turning each stage of
being into a gymnasium for the soul.
Keywords: philosophy of sport, sports activity, Plato and Aristotle, physical
activity, physical education, sport.
Aproximaciones ontológicas y epistemológicas a la actividad
deportiva en el pensamiento de Platón y Aristóteles: diálogos
filosóficos entre el pasado, presente y futuro
Resumen
El objetivo principal de esta investigación consiste en examinar las dimensiones
ontológicas y epistemológicas de la actividad deportiva, en el pensamiento
filosófico de Platón y Aristóteles, explorando cómo estos pensadores universales
integraron las prácticas gimnásticas y atléticas en sus sistemas de pensamiento. De
este objetivo surgieron algunas preguntas de interés, tales como: ¿De qué manera
la gimnasia, junto con la música, constituye un elemento educativo esencial en el
proyecto político-pedagógico desarrollado en la República? O ¿En qué sentido el
pentatleta representa un modelo de virtud y belleza que ilustra la doctrina del
término medio aristotélico? Los resultados obtenidos permiten concluir que, en
términos filosóficos, cuando se logra vincular el rigor conceptual con la relevancia
práctica, la filosofía del deporte puede reclamar su lugar primordial como
herramienta transformadora de la realidad deportiva y no solo como ejercicio
interpretativo. Como sugiere la relectura de Platón y Aristóteles, el verdadero
triunfo no está en vencer a otros, sino en convertir cada estadio del ser en un
gimnasio para el alma.
Palabras clave: filosofía del deporte, actividad deportiva, Platón y Aristóteles,
actividad física, educación física, deporte.
Clío. Revista de Historia, Ciencias Humanas y Pensamiento Crítico
ISSN: 2660-9037 / Provincia de Pontevedra - España
Año 5, No. 10, julio-diciembre
, 2025
Synytsia, Andrii
Rymyk, Roman
Malanyuk, Lyubomyr
Leshchak, Oleksandr
Ontological and epistemological approaches to
physical activity and sport in the thought of
Plato and Aristotle: philosophical dialogues
between the past, present and future
Página
1316
1. Exordium
In general terms, sport has transcended throughout history as a determining
social and cultural practice, even configuring itself as an ontological vehicle of
collective identity, from ancient Greece to the present day. In the words of Reid et
al. (2020), the first Olympic Games, held in 776 BC, represented not only athletic
competitions but also religious and political manifestations that unified the
Hellenic world as a cultural unit, laying the foundations for what would later
evolve into complex institutionalised sports systems. This sporting tradition,
interrupted for centuries, resurfaced in 1896 with the modern Olympic Games,
consolidating sport as a transcendent element in the human experience and
evidencing its ability to persist through different eras and social contexts,
maintaining its competitive essence while acquiring new symbolic dimensions.
In this order of ideas, contemporary international sports competitions
constitute authentic geopolitical scenarios where nations deploy soft power
strategies to increase their global prestige. As USC's analysis of the Paris 2024
Olympics developed by Raffio points out: "We live in an era where reputation is
central to the security of nations. A mega event like the Olympic Games becomes
a key platform for the host and participants alike" (2024, para., 5).
A similar phenomenon occurs with the World Cup, where countries such as
Qatar have invested astronomical sums to transform their international status,
turning the sporting event into a diplomatic instrument to redefine their position
on the world stage, demonstrating that these competitions transcend athletic
Clío. Revista de Historia, Ciencias Humanas y Pensamiento Crítico
ISSN: 2660-9037 / Provincia de Pontevedra - España
Año 5, No. 10, julio-diciembre
, 2025
Synytsia, Andrii
Rymyk, Roman
Malanyuk, Lyubomyr
Leshchak, Oleksandr
Ontological and epistemological approaches to
physical activity and sport in the thought of
Plato and Aristotle: philosophical dialogues
between the past, present and future
Página
1317
competition to become arenas where symbolic capital is disputed between
hegemonic or emerging powers and nations.
From Holt's (2024) point of view, the philosophy of sport emerges as a
reflective discipline in the face of the need to understand a phenomenon that
exceeds mere physical performance and is historically established as a social
practice loaded with diverse meanings. For these reasons, sports activity can and
should be the object of philosophical reflection because it embodies values,
anthropological conceptions, and ethical principles that reflect particular visions
of the human condition, excellence, and social relations (Reid et al., 2020).
The authors of this research defend the idea that the philosophical analysis
of sport allows us to advance in established debates on sports activities and to
propose new perspectives on issues that connect directly with essential questions
about human nature, virtue, bodily beauty and the dialectical relationship between
the physical and the intellectual, thus constituting a fertile field to explore the
ontological and epistemological dimensions that underlie the apparently mundane
but deeply significant practices such as sports.
The main objective of this research is to examine the ontological and
epistemological dimensions of sports activity in the philosophical thought of Plato
and Aristotle, exploring how these classical philosophers integrated gymnastic and
athletic practices into their systems of thought. Regarding Plato, questions arise
such as: In what way does gymnastics, together with music, constitute an essential
educational element in his political-pedagogical project developed in the
Republic? How does Plato's concept of agōn (competition) articulate with his
vision of justice and human excellence? As for Aristotle, it is worth asking: In
what sense does the pentathlete represent a model of virtue and beauty that
Clío. Revista de Historia, Ciencias Humanas y Pensamiento Crítico
ISSN: 2660-9037 / Provincia de Pontevedra - España
Año 5, No. 10, julio-diciembre
, 2025
Synytsia, Andrii
Rymyk, Roman
Malanyuk, Lyubomyr
Leshchak, Oleksandr
Ontological and epistemological approaches to
physical activity and sport in the thought of
Plato and Aristotle: philosophical dialogues
between the past, present and future
Página
1318
illustrates the doctrine of the middle ground? And how is physical activity
integrated into his conception of eudaimonia (happiness) as "activity in
accordance with virtue"? These questions guided our philosophical exploration
through classical Greek thought, without losing sight of its current usefulness.
The study of sports activity in Plato reveals a complex approach that
transcends the only instrumental consideration of physical exercise. In his
dialogues, particularly in Republic and Gorgias (Plato, 2016), Plato draws
parallels between athletic competition (agōn) and the moral struggle for virtue, as
evidenced by his idea: "The struggle to be good rather than bad is important,
Glaucon, much more important than people think" (Quoted by: Reid et al., 2020,
p. 29).
Hermeneutically, this conception underlines that, for Plato, the value of
gymnastics does not lie exclusively in bodily development, but in its contribution
to the formation of character and the balance between body and soul. It is notable
that, despite his apparent emphasis on the spiritual, Plato promotes gymnastic
education for both women and men in the Republic, suggesting a more complex
vision of corporeality than the one traditionally attributed to his idealistic thought
(Plato, 2018).
For his part, Aristotle, who coincidentally established his school in a
gymnasium (the Lyceum), develops a distinctive perspective on athletic activity,
which reflects central elements of his ethical theory. In this argumentative context,
his admiration for the pentathletes responds to the fact that they exemplify the
ideal of moderation and balance, essential characteristics of his doctrine of the just
mean.
Clío. Revista de Historia, Ciencias Humanas y Pensamiento Crítico
ISSN: 2660-9037 / Provincia de Pontevedra - España
Año 5, No. 10, julio-diciembre
, 2025
Synytsia, Andrii
Rymyk, Roman
Malanyuk, Lyubomyr
Leshchak, Oleksandr
Ontological and epistemological approaches to
physical activity and sport in the thought of
Plato and Aristotle: philosophical dialogues
between the past, present and future
Página
1319
As Reid (2010) points out, Plato's main disciple praised the beauty of
pentathletes because it reflected his own ethical theory. The main source of athletic
beauty is, of course, training, and the teaching of ethos is the primary form of
moral education in Aristotle. In essence and existence, Aristotle's appreciation of
sport as an activity that cultivates virtues through habitual practice connects
directly with his concept of happiness as an activity according to virtue:
(Nicomachean Ethics) (Aristotle'S, 1998), thus establishing a systematic link
between physical excellence, moral development and human fulfillment in his
philosophical program.
This scientific article is structured in five main sections that follow this
introduction. The first section establishes the conceptual framework for
philosophically analyzing sports activity, exploring the ontological and
epistemological categories necessary for the study. The second section delves into
the Platonic conception of sport, examining the place of gymnastics in his
educational system and the agonistic dimension as a metaphor for the virtuous life.
The third section analyzes the Aristotelian perspective, focusing on the figure of
the pentathlete as a model of virtue and the relationship between athletic habit and
moral development. The fourth section offers a comparative analysis of both
philosophical conceptions, identifying significant convergences and divergences.
Finally, the fifth section explores, by way of conclusion, the contemporary
relevance of these classical reflections for the current philosophy of sport,
suggesting lines of research that could enrich both sports studies and the
philosophical field in general.
Clío. Revista de Historia, Ciencias Humanas y Pensamiento Crítico
ISSN: 2660-9037 / Provincia de Pontevedra - España
Año 5, No. 10, julio-diciembre
, 2025
Synytsia, Andrii
Rymyk, Roman
Malanyuk, Lyubomyr
Leshchak, Oleksandr
Ontological and epistemological approaches to
physical activity and sport in the thought of
Plato and Aristotle: philosophical dialogues
between the past, present and future
Página
1320
2. Philosophical and conceptual framework
The philosophy of sport is an interdisciplinary field that examines the
conceptual, ethical, and metaphysical dimensions of athletic practices, integrating
perspectives from aesthetics, philosophical anthropology, and political theory,
among others. Since classical antiquity, figures such as Plato, Aristotle and
currently Heather Reid (2010), have consolidated this discipline in their particular
time and space through research that transcends technical analysis to explore
phenomenologically how sport shapes collective identities and expresses
civilizational values. Its purpose lies in unveiling the ontological assumptions and
axiological implications inherent in apparently mundane activities, revealing their
ability to illuminate essential aspects of the human condition. More precisely:
While sport has been practised since pre-historic times, it is a relatively
new subject of systematic philosophical enquiry. Indeed, the
philosophy of sport as an academic sub-field dates back only to the
1970s. Yet, in this short time, it has grown into a vibrant area of
philosophical research that promises both to deepen our understanding
of sport and to inform sports practice. Recent controversies at the elite
and professional level have highlighted the ethical dimensions of sport
in particular. Lance Armstrong’s use of performance-enhancing drugs
raised new issues in the ethics of cheating, middle-distance runner
Caster Semenya has challenged prevailing rules around sex
classification in sport, and Oscar Pistorius’s prosthesis has
problematized the distinction between able-bodied and disabled sport.
While philosophical analysis may help to achieve a deeper
understanding of sport, such analysis may also illuminate problems of
philosophy beyond sport, ranging from the nature of skill to the ethics
of altruism. (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2020, para. 1)
Clío. Revista de Historia, Ciencias Humanas y Pensamiento Crítico
ISSN: 2660-9037 / Provincia de Pontevedra - España
Año 5, No. 10, julio-diciembre
, 2025
Synytsia, Andrii
Rymyk, Roman
Malanyuk, Lyubomyr
Leshchak, Oleksandr
Ontological and epistemological approaches to
physical activity and sport in the thought of
Plato and Aristotle: philosophical dialogues
between the past, present and future
Página
1321
From an ontological perspective, sports hermeneutics proposes that athletic
practices function as cultural texts that require contextualized interpretation to
unravel their true meaning. As Lopez & Andrew (2016) point out, sport cannot be
reduced to self-referential systems of rules, but rather constitutes an
intersubjective set of signifying practices inserted in networks of historical-
cultural significance. This clearly hermeneutical approach reveals to the
consciousness that the essence of the sports phenomenon lies in its ability to
symbolize existential conflicts typical of the human condition, such as: –the
overcoming of limits and the negotiation between cooperation and competition–,
establishing a permanent dialogue between physical action and its symbolic
interpretation, within specific socio-cultural frameworks, as Gadamer (2004)
would say.
From the point of view of the authors of this reflection, phenomenology
complements this approach by investigating how athletic corporeality structures
conscious experience. In fact, works such as An Introduction to the
Phenomenological Study of Sport authored by Martínková & Parry (2012) show
that qualified sports execution generates "specific modes of being-in-the-world",
where the body ceases to be a passive object to become a vehicle of practical
intentionality. The ontology here emerges from the interaction between sensory-
motor capacities and environmental challenges, configuring a sporting reality that
is only fully revealed through the participation embodied in athletic practices.
In this order of ideas, at the epistemological level, in the words of Lucariello
& Tafuri (2018), sport generates tacit knowledge that challenges traditional
rationalist models. According to the cited authors, their research shows how expert
athletes develop "embodied understandings", that is, forms of procedural
Clío. Revista de Historia, Ciencias Humanas y Pensamiento Crítico
ISSN: 2660-9037 / Provincia de Pontevedra - España
Año 5, No. 10, julio-diciembre
, 2025
Synytsia, Andrii
Rymyk, Roman
Malanyuk, Lyubomyr
Leshchak, Oleksandr
Ontological and epistemological approaches to
physical activity and sport in the thought of
Plato and Aristotle: philosophical dialogues
between the past, present and future
Página
1322
knowledge that integrate perception, action and environment, which are
inaccessible through external observation alone. This enactive knowledge suggests
that sports epistemology must transcend the representational paradigm to
incorporate neuroscientific and contextual dimensions inherent to bodily
performance. In fact, sports activity is so complex that it requires an
interdisciplinary and cognitive structure, much more so when:
The body contributes to cognition in surprising ways – ways that more
standard computationally-oriented approaches to cognition often fail to
appreciate. Sports psychologists have been quick to notice the
significance of these ideas in their efforts to understand athletic
performance. Indeed, some sports psychologists have been instrumental
in expanding and developing research programs within embodied
cognition (29). We believe that continued erosion in the disciplinary
boundaries between embodied cognition and sports psychology will
bring tremendous benefits to both fields. (Lucariello & Tafuri, 2018, p.
73)
In addition to the above, sport as a social phenomenon generates systemic
knowledge about group dynamics, applied ethics and uncertainty management.
Therefore, it is worth highlighting how sports sciences combine quantitative
methodologies with qualitative approaches that recognize the constructed and
situated nature of sports phenomena, hence the relevance of the philosophical
perspective to reconstruct their differential and unique nature (Holt, 2024). This
methodological plurality associated with the understanding of sports reflects the
epistemic complexity of a domain where objective measures of performance
coexist with subjective experiences of meaning, demanding flexible interpretative
frameworks that articulate various forms of validation of knowledge.
From the coordinates of Aristotelian thought, the interrelation between
ontology and epistemology in the philosophical study of sport is manifested in
Clío. Revista de Historia, Ciencias Humanas y Pensamiento Crítico
ISSN: 2660-9037 / Provincia de Pontevedra - España
Año 5, No. 10, julio-diciembre
, 2025
Synytsia, Andrii
Rymyk, Roman
Malanyuk, Lyubomyr
Leshchak, Oleksandr
Ontological and epistemological approaches to
physical activity and sport in the thought of
Plato and Aristotle: philosophical dialogues
between the past, present and future
Página
1323
how conceptions of its essence determine the methods for knowing it. If sport is
conceptualized as a hermeneutical practice (interpretative ontology) (Gadamer,
2004), then its study will require phenomenological methodologies that capture
lived experiences (qualitative epistemology). On the contrary, if its dimension as
a regulated system (formalist ontology) is emphasized, empiricist approaches that
measure discrete variables will predominate. According to Lopez & Andrew
(2016), this dialectic reveals that all sports epistemology implies prior ontological
commitments about the nature, essence or substance of what is investigated in
terms of objects and subjects.
3. Platonic conception of sport
In his life, Plato develops an idealist philosophical vision where material
reality is considered an "imperfect imitation" of the "Perfect Forms" that exist in
the eternal realm of ideas (Plato, 2016). This duality between the sensible and the
intelligible world constitutes the core of his thought. For the creator of the
Philosopher King, people possess innate knowledge of these "primary ontological
Forms" because they come from the realm of Ideas, at birth, and return to it after
death. Therefore, in the words of Copleston (2004), innate knowledge explains
why we can recognize imperfect examples of concepts such as beauty, goodness,
or justice in the material world. In teleological terms, Platonic idealism states that
true knowledge is not found in sensible experience, but, rather, in the rational
contemplation of these immutable and perfect Forms, hence the justification of
philosophy.
Clío. Revista de Historia, Ciencias Humanas y Pensamiento Crítico
ISSN: 2660-9037 / Provincia de Pontevedra - España
Año 5, No. 10, julio-diciembre
, 2025
Synytsia, Andrii
Rymyk, Roman
Malanyuk, Lyubomyr
Leshchak, Oleksandr
Ontological and epistemological approaches to
physical activity and sport in the thought of
Plato and Aristotle: philosophical dialogues
between the past, present and future
Página
1324
Image 1. Plato at the University of Athens
Source: Azparren, 2024.
In his dialogue Protagoras, Plato (2016) demonstrates his philosophical
method to access the knowledge of these ideal forms, insisting on the
epistemological need to develop precise definitions and, particularly, ethical
concepts. At the end of this dialogue, Socrates expresses the existential urgency
of redefining virtue as a necessary step to resolve an aporia (state of perplexity).
According to the analysis of Politis (2012), Plato uses this aporia when the main
question--whether virtue can be taught--has been argued equally in both directions
by Socrates and Protagoras. In this rhetorical dialogic context, this state of
perplexity does not represent a failure, but a starting point for deeper philosophical
inquiry. The dialectical methodology reflects, therefore, his conviction that we can
approach true knowledge through systematic reasoning and rigorous questioning.
Clío. Revista de Historia, Ciencias Humanas y Pensamiento Crítico
ISSN: 2660-9037 / Provincia de Pontevedra - España
Año 5, No. 10, julio-diciembre
, 2025
Synytsia, Andrii
Rymyk, Roman
Malanyuk, Lyubomyr
Leshchak, Oleksandr
Ontological and epistemological approaches to
physical activity and sport in the thought of
Plato and Aristotle: philosophical dialogues
between the past, present and future
Página
1325
In this order of ideas, the allegory of the cave, presented in Book VII of the
Republic (Plato, 2018), masterfully illustrates Plato's epistemological and
metaphysical theory. In his metaphorical and deeply symbolic narrative, Plato
describes prisoners chained from birth in a dark cavern, contemplating only
shadows cast on the wall, produced by objects carried behind a wall by the light
of a bonfire. These shadows constitute his only sentient reality, representing the
common, distorted, and incomplete human sense perception. In contrast, when a
prisoner is released and forced to look into the light, he experiences pain and
confusion, symbolizing the difficulty of the educational process in the search for
the true self. By becoming accustomed to looking at real objects and eventually
the sun, the freed prisoner symbolizes the philosopher who has attained the
contemplation of forms and the idea of the good.
Image 2. Plato’s Cave Allegory
Source: Loeb, 2023.
Clío. Revista de Historia, Ciencias Humanas y Pensamiento Crítico
ISSN: 2660-9037 / Provincia de Pontevedra - España
Año 5, No. 10, julio-diciembre
, 2025
Synytsia, Andrii
Rymyk, Roman
Malanyuk, Lyubomyr
Leshchak, Oleksandr
Ontological and epistemological approaches to
physical activity and sport in the thought of
Plato and Aristotle: philosophical dialogues
between the past, present and future
Página
1326
In this narrative thread, when the prisoner returns to the cave, he faces two
difficulties: his eyes accustomed to the light cannot see well in the dark, and when
explaining the higher reality he has contemplated, he is ridiculed by the other
prisoners (Plato, 2018). In our hermeneutical criterion, this part of the allegory
illustrates the fate of the philosopher in society and the resistance to true
knowledge. At the same time, the metaphor of the ascent represents the
educational path proposed by Plato, it is a difficult process, for what it represents,
of conversion of the soul from the sensible to the intelligible. Here, both music
and gymnastics education have crucial roles: music educating the soul and
gymnastics, on the other hand, preparing the body as a suitable vehicle for a well-
formed soul. The ultimate goal is to make it possible to distinguish between
appearance and reality, preparing the individual to contemplate the true world of
Ideas.
In addition to the above, in the Republic, Plato establishes that the education
of guardians must include two essential elements: musikē (music) and gymnastikē
(gymnastics), where the first nourishes the soul and the second the body. (Plato,
2018) Unlike Sparta, where gymnastics predominated, Plato gives primacy to
musical training over physical education, establishing that: "a good soul, by virtue,
makes the body the best it can be" (Plato, 2016, p. 315). Guardians, as "athletes in
the greatest of competitions," must maintain a strict regimen that includes
abstinence from poisoning and a proper diet. Thus, physical training for Plato does
not primarily seek muscle development for its own sake, but is part of an integral
(holistic) educational program aimed at the balanced development of the
individual, where the disciplined body serves as an appropriate instrument for a
virtuous soul (Copleston, 2004).