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Underlying the exhilarant incidents is the distortion of the competition‘s significance.
It is evident that the parties involved in the exhilarant scandals hold that the
competition is an end in itself, i.e., the athletic competition in their view is not the
authentic and lofty competition. What is the authentic competition? In the ancient
Greece, the competition at the Olympic Games was intended to improve the
constitution of the whole nation and keep the extreme cruelty and barbarity at bay
despite the wars and conflicts. Stripped of the just rules and the lofty ideals, the
competition would only degrade into barbaric fighting and killing.
In the Olympic spirit the competition is not an end in itself. The ultimate goal is to be
the higher, the swifter and the stronger by upholding justice and equity. The success
of the Olympics consists in the improvement of the overall national quality through
competition and propagation of equity and harmony. In my opinion, the immense
popularity that the Olympic spirit enjoys throughout the world owes itself to these
concepts. Through a long course of a few thousand years, the Olympic spirit has
transcended the national borders and been shared by the world. The Olympic spirit is
readily accepted by various nations because they have identified in the
trans-national spirit their common goals and values, namely, the social harmony,
international peace, fair competition and equal opportunities and so on. The
development of a nation can be greatly accelerated through the athletic competition
between nations.
Fortunately the International Olympic Committee, the supreme organ of the Olympic
Games, has realized these problems and is taking active measures to redress them.
After Rogge was elected President of the International Olympic Committee such
programs as ―sizing down the Olympics‖, ―rationalizing the commerce‖ have been
subsequently carried out. With the acceleration of the globalization the problems
encountered by the Olympic Games are to be more complicated, and more severe
challenges are in store for the International Olympic Committee.
China Reading Weekly: So what is the practical influence of philosophy upon today‘s
world?
Zhao Dunhua: As described by Hegel, philosophy is the owl which takes its wings at
dusk. Philosophy lags behind the reality, but it reflects the major issues in the real
world. On one hand the world philosophy faces a spectrum of challenges brought
about by the globalization, such as how to cope with the international conflicts,
violence, local wars and so on; on the other hand the world philosophy shoulders the
mission to facilitate the dialogue and enhance understanding between different
nations so as to achieve the world peace.
Actually it is wise to proceed from the Olympic spirit to the common things shared by
the Chinese and western philosophy. This forum is of great significance in that it is
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