An Eastern Kentucky University faculty member is the editor and one of 18 contributors to a new book that examines football through a philosophical lens.

“Football and Philosophy: Going Deep,” published by the University Press of Kentucky, is a collection of essays by football fans who also happen to be philosophers. Michael Austin is an associate professor of philosophy at EKU.

“Surprisingly, the gridiron provides a valuable arena in which to consider the moral and ethical questions philosophers have debated for thousands of years,” an announcement from the University Press of Kentucky declares. “The authors allow philosophical ideas to shed light on the game’s most divisive debates.”

For example, Austin makes a case for a playoff system in college football, presenting his argument with the concept of justice in mind. Another writer opines on whether the salary cap evens the playing field in the National Football League.

The collection, which was written for fans of the game, also examines the sport within the framework of theoretical thinking, demonstrating how deeper thought thwarts simplistic answers. Another contributor pits the legendary coach Vince Lombardi against Nietzsche and Marx, while another explores violence in the sport through the principles of virtue and morality.

Already the book has earned rave reviews. Booklist said Lombardi, “who relished his undergraduate studies in philosophy, would have loved this book.”

The book “runs past double coverage to touch on just about every aspect of a sport that crushes all others in mass American appeal,” wrote the Detroit Free Press.

In addition to numerous philosophy professors at colleges and universities nationwide, the contributors also include Myles Brand, president of the NCAA and former president of Indiana University.

Austin is also the editor of “Running and Philosophy: A Marathon for the Mind.”