Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

5-1999

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Education

Major Professor

Joy DeSensi

Committee Members

L. B. Cebik, Kathy Bohstedt, Clint Allison

Abstract

This dissertation presents two methods of critiquing the ideology of competition; one, philosophical; and the other, narrative. Using these different methods of presentation, the dissertation attempts to argue a compelling case for the notion that a society based on a cooperative ideology is an acceptable, livable, preferable, and attainable alternative to our society's present state.

In Part One, competition is examined from a philosophical perspective. The first five chapters of Part One focus on why the competitive ideology and the competitive society fail to live up to their benign reputation though completely fulfilling their negative aspects. These chapters discuss several competitivist arguments, including the view that competition is an evolutionary or innate psychological condition of humans, social Darwinism, the economics of competition, and the conception of competition as a mutual quest for excellence. Chapter 6 of the dissertation studies the conundrum of why many people, despite evidence to the contrary, continue to support the competitive ideology.

Finally, in Chapter 7, I offer one possibility as to what can be done to change this situation by attempting to answer the following question: If philosophy, along with voluminous sociological and psychological studies, has not provided the necessary contingencies to help people convince themselves of the obvious weaknesses of the competitive ideology, what will? Chapter 7 argues that literature (and Utopian literature in particular) is an acceptable alternative for presenting sophisticated ideas and scholarship; it is a medium which appeals to a larger percentage of the population.

For the entirety of Part Two, therefore, I offer a quasi-utopian novel which contextualizes arguments for cooperation and against competition in order to demonstrate the literary medium's potential. Because of the scope of the novel, the arguments do not deal strictly with sports-related competition but with competition as it affects a greater number of social institutions, including and especially education. The author hopes that the narrative style of presentation will make more accessible to more people the cooperativist position, thus stimulating pro-social changes.

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