Acta Univ. Palacki. Olomuc., Gymn. 2006 36(2): 11-16

Movements of human existence as a possible background for the study of a sporting life

Miloš Bednář

Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, Charles University, Prague

The paper deals with movements of human existence and tries to describe a special "topography" of them - with permanent attention to the whole of human existence. We promote calling the scene of these movements a homodrom. To gain a wider background for a context of sport is a secondary aim. Firstly (I) we analyse two extreme attitudes concerning our possibilities of creating concrete and personal projects of our way of life: represented by mythological Moerae on the one hand, and especially by existentialists with their concept of "empty freedom" on the other hand. A balanced position is given by Czech philosopher Jan Patočka against the background of Heidegger's well-known Dasein analyses (II). It seems to be the most complete view concerning a movement of our existence. He divided this specific movement into three stages: 1. the movement of self-anchoring, an instinctive movement of our existence, 2. the movement of self-prolongation, the movement of our coming to terms with the reality we are involved with, 3. the movement of self-gaining, which can be described as "living in the truth". We try to analyse this structure subtly. All three movements are also viewed in a modality of relation to other people. The next part (III) shows a special "topography" of human existence in its dynamism. Here we follow especially a "vertical transcendency" and pay attention to both zenith and nadir experience. Further we list some factors with a stronger influence upon our personal homodrom: existentials as "categories" of human existence, EHEs (exceptional human experiences) and other deep experiences of various sorts, horizons of external influences - horizons of time, of sense, horizons of social influences etc., values and their hierarchy. We use them in a context of sport (IV). Special attention is paid to the term metanoia and we judge two important turning points in a athlete's homodrom. Related questions are opened instead of a conclusion (V).

Keywords: Movement, human existence, homodrom, metanoia, sport and existence, Jan Patočka, experiences, nadir experience

Prepublished online: February 13, 2009; Published: March 1, 2006  Show citation