It’s much more important than that: against fictionalist accounts of fandom

Alfred Archer, Jake Wojtowicz

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

Do sports fans really care about their team winning? According to several philosophers, the answer is no. Sports fans engage in fictional caring during the match, which involves a game of make-believe that the result is important. We will argue that this account does not provide a full account of the way in which fans relate to the teams they support. For many fans, the team they support forms a core part of their identity. The success or failure of their team impacts the community they are a part of and around which they build a central part of their identity. For these fans, it really does matter whether their team wins or loses. We will finish by articulating a more limited role that fictional caring may play in sports fandom.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)83-98
Number of pages16
JournalJournal of the Philosophy of Sport
Volume49
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2022

Keywords

  • Fictionalism
  • community
  • fandom
  • partisans

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'It’s much more important than that: against fictionalist accounts of fandom'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this