ABSTRACT
How are values in sport related to values in the larger society? According to one influential thesis, which the author calls reductionism, values in sport are reflections and perhaps reinforcers of values in the broader society. Some reductionists might add that the emphasis on such values in sport may reflect back on the prevailing social values and reinforce commitment to them in the broader culture. Although there may be different interpretations of the inner morality of sport and perhaps even different and conflicting inner moralities of sport, such a moral code seems capable of profoundly influencing social and individual moral development. Similarly, the inner morality of sport, insofar as it forms part of a defensible practice of moral education, does not place athletes in intellectual blinders. Consequently, sport presupposes the importance of standards, including standards of excellent play and standards of appropriate conduct.
