In practice and ideas, the cultural significance of play and sport is as old as the Olympics of ancient Greece and as modern as the sociological theories of the Dutch scholar Johan Huizinga. Larry Keith and Robert Simon, following those ideas, address questions such as these: What is the social importance of what Huizinga called homo ludens –playful humankind? With respect to contemporary issues such as the professionalization of sports and the relationship between sports and education, how do sports create and reflect social values?
At the time of this interview, Keith was an editor of Sports Illustrated. Simon, a Fellow at the National Humanities Center (1981-82), was professor of philosophy at Hamilton College.
This edition of Soundings was conducted by Wayne J. Pond.
