PHYSICAL EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND CULTURE

Abstract

This paper discusses some characteristics of modern science, which have influenced the academic practice in Physical Education and contributed that some of its sub-areas become hegemonic. This has entailed a fragmented, naturalised and universalised view of the human being and of the social reality. Some tenets defended by anthropological thinking – the comprehension of reality as a cultural and symbolic dimension; the notion of total social fact and the synthetic conception of man – may contribute to unfragment, unnaturalise and un-universalise the scientific knowledge on social reality. These tenets may provide support for the comprehension of the Physical Education's academic tradition and its epistemological discussion.