ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces American pragmatist Henry Bugbee's writing and approach to philosophy, examines his notion of certainty, and describes the import for this reframed notion of certainty for coaching philosophies. Bugbee's approach toward philosophy related directly to personal experience, sifting through streams of consciousness as they appeared to him beside the Schuylkill River or Canadian Rockies. He advocates for attention to these wilderness experiences, especially noting their aesthetic qualities. He uses narratives as a method to understand the process of acquiring knowledge and meaning, detailing his experiences swamping, building a dam, and rowing. In the same way, coaches need to recognize and acknowledge the ordinary experiences that coaches undergo, experiences that have a bearing on the way these individuals develop, interpret, change, and understand their coaching philosophies. The chapter finally three aspects related to both coaching philosophies and also their application to ethical issues are risk; humility; and alertness.
