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The Land of Competition: Observations On the Sociology of Games in Finland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 July 2024

Jaakko Ahokas
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Although I am by no means a specialist in this field, I was struck with the ideas presented in Roger Caillois's work, Les feux et les hommes. In it he has attempted to classify games according to their basic character and the principles from which they stem. He has also tried to demonstrate that a certain kind of society corresponds to a certain category of games. In chapter viii of his book we encounter the transition from primitive societies, where games that Caillois classifies as mimicry and ilinx (“mimicry” and “vertigo”) are the rule, to highly developed societies characterized by agôn (“regulated competition”) and alea (“chance”). The ideal toward which all modern, democratic societies aspire is total achievement of the requisite conditions for the proper evolution of agôn, not only in the realm of games, but in all of life, by guaranteeing equal opportunities to all citizens in their competition for wealth and power. However, as we can readily understand, this ideal can never be truly achieved, even in societies that are, theoretically, the most egalitarian. To this fact the author attributes the extraordinary passion for all forms of alea, which we witness today almost everywhere in the Western world. Chance offers compensation for the disappointments inherent in agôn, for the inevitable inequalities among members of any human group. Caillois provides a penetrating analysis of all the forms that alea asumes in our times (games of “double or quits,” betting, lotteries, beauty contests, infatuation with movie stars), and he cites examples to illustrate the passions they arouse. I was all the more impressed because they are practically non-existent in Finland. This is due, in my opinion, to the fact that in Finnish society opportunities for agôn are equally distributed among its members; thus they do not feel the need to seek compensation in the whims of alea.

Type
Notes and Discussion
Information
Diogenes , Volume 7 , Issue 26 , June 1959 , pp. 97 - 106
Copyright
Copyright © 1959 Fédération Internationale des Sociétés de Philosophie / International Federation of Philosophical Societies (FISP)

References

1. Paris, I958.

2. In I9I8 a partial setback occurred when a Communist revolutionary movement was stamped out with bloodshed after a fierce civil war. But, because the triumphant party sought the support of imperial Germany, the fall of the latter first brought to power the liberals, then the moderate socialists, backed by the Peasant party.

3. I say this merely to stress the difference in points of view, not wishing in any way to extol Greece or Finland or to depreciate Rome or countries where professional athletics are the rule today.

4. I quote the following remark from Les feux et les hommes, p. I78: "Even the talented son of a farmer in a poor and remote province cannot readily compete with the son of an important official in the capital, though the latter might be of mediocre intelligence." In Finland we feel that he could compete. It just happens that the president of the Republic is a good case in point and can serve to illustrate the many opportunities available to a Finnish citizen of humble origin. He is the son of a modest agriculturalist from one of the poorest and most remote provinces in our country. He studied at the university and re ceived his doctorate in law. He then embarked upon an athletic career and became the high-jump champion of Finland and subsequently the president of the National Federation of Sports. Thereupon he decided to go into politics; he was first elected deputy, then a member of the cabinet, then president of the parliament, and finally president of the Re public. Yet, in biographies, his humble origin is given no special emphasis because, in actuality, hundreds and even thousands of Finns of similar circumstances have also attained the highest positions during the course of their careers.

5. I do not mention artists because in every country and at all times they have been thought of as living on the margin of normal society.

6. The champion Finnish sprinter even had a statue erected in his honor, but, and this is typical, the pedestal of the statue does not bear his name. It is known officially as "The Runner"—the work of a certain sculptor.

7. In a country with a population of four million; the equivalent sale in France would be four million copies.

8. Furthermore, the lottery was combined with an economic activity planned after a fashion reminiscent of the network of savings banks in the U.S.S.R. and described on page 25I of Caillois's book: certain state debentures which are payable with interest and are valid as lottery tickets as well; thus it is possible to win relatively large sums in the lottery.

9. The description of a public drawing of the National Lottery of France which I once gave in Finland elicited the kind of astonishment that a tale about the oddities of an exotic tribe might arouse.

10. We must add that television has not been very widespread in our country, mainly for economic reasons. It will be interesting to see whether "Double or Quits" will be fol lowed with greater enthusiasm when there are more television sets.