The Philosophy of Food

This book explores food from a philosophical perspective, bringing together sixteen leading philosophers to consider the most basic questions about food: What is it exactly? What should we eat? How do we know it is safe? How should food be distributed? What is good food? David M. Kaplan’s erudite and informative introduction grounds the discussion, showing how philosophers since Plato have taken up questions about food, diet, agriculture, and animals. However, until recently, few have considered food a standard subject for serious philosophical debate. Each of the essays in this book brings in-depth analysis to many contemporary debates in food studies—Slow Food, sustainability, food safety, and politics—and addresses such issues as “happy meat,” aquaculture, veganism, and table manners. The result is an extraordinary resource that guides readers to think more clearly and responsibly about what we consume and how we provide for ourselves, and illuminates the reasons why we act as we do.

David M. Kaplan is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Texas.

Introduction: The Philosophy of Food
David M. Kaplan

1. Real Men Have Manners
Roger Scruton

2. Down-Home Global Cooking: A Third Option between Cosmopolitanism and Localism
Lisa Heldke

3. Hunger Is the Best Sauce
Kevin Sweeney

4. Tastes, Smells, and Everyday Aesthetics
Emily Brady

5. Ethical Gourmandism
Carolyn Korsmeyer

6. Two Evils in Food Country: Hunger and Lack of Representation
Michiel Korthals

7. Ethics and Genetically Modified Food
Gary Comstock

8. The Ethics of Food Safety in the Twenty-First Century: Who Keeps the Public Good?
Jeffrey Burkhardt

9. The Myth of Happy Meat
Richard P. Haynes

10. The Problem of Happy Meat and the Importance of Vegan Education
Gary Francione

11. Animal Ethics and Food Production in the Twenty-First Century
David Fraser

12. Nature Politics and the Philosophy of Agriculture
Paul B. Thompson

13. The Ethics and Sustainability of Aquaculture
Matthias Kaiser

14. Scenarios for Food Security
David Castle, Keith Culver, and William Hannah

15. Nutritionism and Functional Foods
Gyorgy Scrinis

16. In Vitro Meat: What Are the Moral Issues?
Stellan Welin, Julie Gold, and Johanna Berlin

Index