Courses

Shawn Klein

Professor of Philosophy

Arizona State University

Dr. Shawn E. Klein is a philosopher specializing in ethics, popular culture, and the philosophy of sport. He edited Steve Jobs and Philosophy: For Those Who Think Different (Open Court, 2015) and Harry Potter and Philosophy: If Aristotle Ran Hogwarts (Open Court, 2004). He is the editor of Studies in the Philosophy of Sport, a new book series from Lexington Books. He is co-editor for the journal Reason Papers. He has presented at numerous conferences on sports ethics, business ethics, pop culture and philosophy, and other topics.
Dr. Klein blogs as The Sports Ethicist at SportsEthicist.com. He also hosts a regular podcast, The Sports Ethics Show. He has appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Bloomberg News, CNN, and other media outlets.

Blog Posts

The Surprising, Terrifying Truth About the World Anti-Doping Association

August 4, 2016
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War on Drugs

The use of performance-enhancing drugs is thought to violate the notions of fairness, honorable victory, and excellence that are at the heart of sport. Even if doping was not disallowed by the rules, many argue that it would still undermine the very essence of sport. I am not going to challenge those arguments here, though I will note I am not entirely persuaded by them. At first glance, it seems like there is no place for a classical liberal take on doping. The sport federations and teams are, for the most part, privately owned and participation is voluntary. These private organizations are free

The Connection between Sport and Classical Liberalism

July 31, 2016
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Role of Government

The connection between classical liberalism and sport is not immediately obvious. Sport, after all, is a near-universal human activity that long predates classical liberalism. Its practitioners and spectators come from all creeds and political ideologies. That is one of the enduring strengths and attractions of sport at its best: it is not the provenance of one group or culture: it is a human activity, open to all. Its contests are decided on by clearly defined rules and outcomes. In sport, any individual can pursue his or her excellence even though success is never guaranteed. And yet, even as