Thoughts on Laws and the Idea of a telos

                                                            Alasdair MacIntyre (1929- )

From a basketball website:

Shooting a basketball is a science, as well as an art. To understand the fundamentals of shooting, it is necessary to understand the term "power line." This term refers to a line of power developed from the toe of the shooter all the way through the fingertips.

In order for the power line to be developed, the foot, knee, hip, shoulder, elbow, hand, and eye on the shooting side should be lined up in a straight line. To help remember the power line principle keep the BEEF acronym in mind.

B-- Balance

Keep feet shoulder-width apart with the foot on the shooting side of the body toe-to-heel in front of the other foot; knees bent, hips square to target, and back straight.

E -- Elbow in

The ball is held close to the chest and underneath the chin with the shooting hand a little more toward the back and slightly under the ball. The other hand is placed on the side of the ball and used only as a guide. (The guide hand does not become involved in the shot)

E -- Eyes on Target

Focus on a target whether that is the square on the backboard or the inside shiny part of the rim. Stay focused on this target. Don't watch the ball after the release.

F-- Follow Through

The ball is released by a quick extension of the elbow and a flick of the wrist and fingers of the shooting hand. (Follow through is like reaching up and putting your hand in a cookie jar) Ball should have back spin rotation which will enable the shooter to develop a softer touch.

. . . 

Think of these as laws – laws that govern good shooting.

When I was young I watched NBA games on Sunday. I liked the New York Knicks. There was a player on that team – Dick Barnett – who had the funkiest shot in the league: he kicked up his legs as he shot. Of all people I tried to emulate him with my shot: kicked up my legs and threw up knuckleballs. In the 9th grade, my basketball coach (Tommy Compton) tried to correct my shot. I did not want my shot corrected – I wanted to do it my way, write my own laws, so to speak. But I knew that the coach knew the game and so I tried. I wanted to (free will) improve my shot. It was rough going at first, but I made gradual improvement. After I had finished organized basketball, I continued to work on my shot. Carrying out the laws for good shooting over and over again until they became second nature. I got to be somewhat competent. Not another Steph Curry but competent.

    The Steph Currys of the basketball world transcend the law even as they spontaneously follow them – rather like a piano player who can accurately play the notes of the Bach Prelude vs. a player who doesn’t even think about the notes as he makes the music come alive.

   The laws of shooting are inherent in its telos – in the point of it all, what’s it is all about and what it is all for, namely, making the basketball go through the hoop. The telos places strict constraints on individual freedom. My freedom is my choosing whether I want to shoot well. If I want to shoot well, then the laws are what cause me to do that, if I can internalize them.

   And of course shooting is just one part of a complex sport, and laws that serve different purposes. There are the laws – the rules – of the game. For example:

·        Each team consists of five players on the court at a time.

·        A standard basketball game is divided into four quarters, each lasting 12 minutes in the NBA or 10 minutes in FIBA (international) rules. Overtime periods are added if the score is tied at the end of regulation.

·        Field Goals: A basket scored from inside the three-point line is worth 2 points. A basket from outside the three-point line is worth 3 points.

·        Free Throws: Worth 1 point each, awarded after certain fouls, where a player takes an unopposed shot from the free-throw line.

 

·        A player must dribble (bounce) the ball while moving. Traveling occurs if a player takes more than two steps without dribbling.

·        Double dribbling (stopping and restarting dribbling without a pass or shot) is a violation.

·        Teams have a limited time (24 seconds in the NBA or 14 seconds after an offensive rebound) to attempt a shot. If the shot clock expires without an attempt, it results in a turnover.

·        Personal fouls involve illegal physical contact, such as holding, blocking, or hitting an opponent.

·        A player is "fouled out" and disqualified from the game after accumulating a certain number of personal fouls (5 in FIBA, 6 in the NBA).

·        Team fouls accumulate, and once a team reaches a set number of fouls in a period, the opposing team is awarded free throws.

·        Traveling: Moving with the ball without dribbling properly.

·        Double Dribble: Stopping dribbling and starting again without passing or shooting.

·        Backcourt Violation: After the ball crosses the mid-court line, the offensive team cannot return it to the backcourt.

·        Goal Tending: Interfering with a shot on its way to the basket or when it is directly above the rim.

·        After certain stoppages, the ball is inbounded from the sidelines or baseline. The inbounding player has 5 seconds to pass the ball to a teammate.

·        An offensive player cannot stay in the key (paint area) for more than three seconds while their team has the ball.

·        Teams are allowed a limited number of timeouts per game, which they can use to strategize or rest. The number and duration of timeouts vary between different leagues.

 

Sometimes rules are changed or new rules are introduced: the shot clock, the three-point line, etc. People may disagree about whether the three-point shot made the game better. But the point of these rules (laws) is to define the game – the making of field goals, dribbling, and such – and to make the game better. If you don’t follow these rules, you are not playing the game; if you take off running with the ball, take it over the out-of-bounds line, and spike it as if you had scored a touchdown, you are not playing basketball. Again, the laws are not alien; the laws don’t repress individual freedom but enable you to play the game.

   You could also think of the qualities you need to learn the game and to be a good teammate as laws of a different kind. You need a desire to learn, curiosity, self-discipline, organization, honesty, proper respect for teachers and other learners, an attitude that embraces challenges, perseverance, resilience, patience, dedication and the like. Other virtues – laws in the sense of “You must be...” – for being a good teammate are also essential: empathy, respect, cooperation, reliability, honesty, humility, selflessness, patience, integrity, positivity, accountability, flexibility, leadership, gratitude, confidence, objectivity.

   What is striking is how little these different senses of “law” that are relevant to a complex activity like basketball are like other connotations of law – as an external limit on my freedom. In none of these cases in my basketball example are laws an external limit on my freedom. The laws rather make possible my freedom if freedom is defined at excelling at the game, as being good at it.

  Without a telos, without a community devoted to that telos, laws can only be external checks on my will.

   All kinds of activities are structured by a telos, from basketball to physics, from farming communities like the Amish to the army.

   The Greeks and even Catholic Christians have believed to be good at life, to live the best human life, to flourish as a human being required a community life lived according to the telos of humanity. Aristotle’s idea of telos centers on achieving eudaimonia, or human flourishing, through the development of virtues within a community. For Aristotle, the community, or polis, is where people reach their highest potential. The telos of human life involves living well according to reason and virtue. This includes practicing virtues such as courage, justice, and wisdom, and contributing to the common good of the community. The virtues get their sense from the telos. They are admirable in themselves but unintelligible without a telos – a good – to be aimed at. The polis provides the structure and environment where these virtues can be developed and where individuals can live a fulfilling life.

    In a similar way, a basketball team functions with a telos. The team’s goal is to play the game well, which involves both individual skills and teamwork. Success in basketball requires players to develop technical abilities like passing and shooting, and personal qualities such as trust and cooperation. The team, like the polis, is a community where individuals grow and contribute to a collective goal. The telos of basketball is achieved through working together and excelling in the sport.

    Thomas Aquinas retained the idea that a community is essential for achieving life’s purpose but transformed the content of this purpose. For Aquinas, the ultimate goal is not just about living well on earth but about attaining eternal happiness through a relationship with God – which is to say, a life in which the love God and humanity (and the Creation) is the telos. Aquinas saw the Church as the community that guides individuals toward this end. While Aristotle’s polis focuses on earthly virtues and the common good, Aquinas’s Church provides teachings and rituals that help people live according to both reason and divine law as revealed in the Sermon on the Mount, the Good Samaritan, the saving of the adulterous woman and other teachings. The Church helps individuals grow in natural virtues and theological virtues like faith, hope, and love, directing them toward their ultimate goal of union with God. Just like getting to be a good basketball shooter, you get good at the virtues by doing them until they become part of you. You tell the truth over and over until you hardly have to think about it. Then you are honest. 

   Christian laws are most like the laws of good basketball shooting: they make it possible for you to “get good” at life, at the life of the soul.

   The foundation of any human life involves ways of working and making. These must be integrated into the telos. 

      In a capitalist society, the primary focus is often on individual financial success rather than a shared telos. Work is subordinated to this purpose - not a telos, not a final good at which human life aims. Capitalism emphasizes personal gain, competition, and the pursuit of wealth as the main goals. This framework values individual achievement and economic success over communal well-being or moral virtues. In such a society, the telos of life is often interpreted through the lens of economic prosperity. Individuals are encouraged to compete and accumulate wealth, with success measured by financial status rather than the development of virtues or contribution to a common good. The community in capitalism is not necessarily structured around shared values or goals but around market forces and individual interests.

   The everyday notion of purpose, such as the idea that the purpose of the capitalist is to make more money, differs fundamentally from the Aristotelian and Thomist conception of a telos in both meaning and scope. In a capitalist framework, purpose is often understood in terms of personal or economic goals, like making more money, accumulating wealth, or achieving financial success. This notion of purpose is typically individualistic and is driven by external, measurable outcomes. For the capitalist, purpose is oriented toward increasing profit, expanding business, and maximizing personal gain. It is a goal that is defined by personal desires and market demands. This type of purpose is open-ended in that there is no inherent limit to how much wealth can or should be accumulated. The pursuit is often continuous, driven by competition, growth, and the desire for more.

     The Aristotelian and Thomist conception of a telos is different in both character and intention. For Aristotle, telos is the ultimate purpose or end that gives meaning and direction to life. It is not about external gains but about realizing one’s highest potential through the cultivation of virtues and living according to reason. Aristotle sees the telos of human life as eudaimonia, or flourishing, which is achieved by living a virtuous life in accordance with one’s nature as a rational and social being. The purpose, in this sense, is about becoming the best version of oneself, fulfilling one’s potential, doing this through contributing to the common good within a community.

     The capitalist’s purpose is focused on external outcomes, like money and material success, which are measurable and often unlimited. In contrast, the Aristotelian and Thomist telos is about internal development and fulfillment, such as the cultivation of virtues or a spiritual relationship with God. In capitalism, the purpose is often open-ended, with no natural stopping point; more wealth can always be pursued. In the Aristotelian sense, the telos has a specific end — a complete state of flourishing that can be achieved through a virtuous life. In the Thomist sense, this end is also defined — eternal union with God, which is the ultimate fulfillment and has a final, infinite character.

    A form of life organized around virtues and laws with a clear telos, as seen in Aristotle’s polis and Aquinas’s Church differs fundamentally from a capitalist society. The telos in these frameworks involves achieving a well-lived life or eternal happiness through communal virtues and shared goals. In contrast, capitalist societies prioritize individual financial success and personal gain, often at the expense of communal values and collective purpose. In capitalism, the law necessarily has a different purpose: to restrain individuals pursuing their selfish interests such that society does not degenerate into a war of all against all. Understanding these differences highlights the impact of a telos in shaping communities and the role of shared goals in achieving a fulfilling life.

   In religious life, the Law too easily becomes merely a means to separate humanity into two camps – the righteous and the damned. Obeying the law is a means to elevate the egos of the “righteous” above their fellow man. This was what Jesus criticized. Law to be humanly valuable must flow from a humanely valuable telos.

   One way to think about the big difference: the telos of human life is part of our reality in the one view, something we give ourselves in autonomy on the other. From the Christian point of view, the later defines the Satanic; from the secular-modern point of view, the former is an illusion that keeps us unfree. There is no way to resolve that conflict. It is fundamental, two hostile and incommensurable conceptions of the human being. 

  A democratic society based on autonomy will be a very different animal from a democratic society based on realizing our potential, actualizing our inborn telos. 

Alasdair MacIntyre is the source of much of my thinking on this topic.