Wellesley College, Fall 2021 (DRAFT: Subject to Change)
In this course, we will examine the philosophy of food, from farm to table. Students will explore philosophical issues surrounding topics such as world hunger, industrial agriculture, vegetarianism, cultural identity, paternalism, food aesthetics, and individual responsibility. We will focus both on honing our argumentative skills and engaging critically with academic and popular writing about food.
Introduction: Some basic tools for the course.
Global Hunger 1
Peter Singer, "Famine, Affluence, and Morality"
Global Hunger 2
Amia Srinivasan, "Effective Altruism and Its Limits"
Background: Robert Paarlberg, "Food Aid and Agricultural Development Assistance"
Animals and Food 1
Lori Gruen, "Eating Animals"
Animals and Food 2
Tristram McPherson, "How to Argue for (and against) Ethical Veganism"
Alicia P.Q. Wittmeyer, “I admire vegetarians. It’s a choice I won’t ever make” in The New York Times
Animals and Food 3
Ben Jones, “Eating meat and not vaccinating: in defense of the analogy”
Animals and Food 4
Syl Ko, selections from Aphro-ism
Food Justice 1
Iris Marion Young, “Five Faces of Oppression”
Bettina Makalintal, “When it comes to a recipe, what’s in a name?” in Vice
Food Justice 2
Kyle Powys Whyte “Food Justice and Collective Food Relations”
Interview with Whyte on Toasted Sister
Food Justice 3
Samantha Noll and Esme Murdock, “Whose Justice is it Anyway? Mitigating the Tensions Between Food Security and Food Sovereignty”
Food Justice 4
Mark Budolfson, “Arguments for Well-Regulated Capitalism, and Implications for Global Ethics, Food, Environment, Climate Change, and Beyond”
Food Justice 5
Mikhail Valdman, “A Theory of Wrongful Exploitation
Barry Estabrook, “The Price of Tomatoes” in Gourmet
Food Justice 6
Sarah Conly, “Paternalism, Food, and Personal Freedom”
Food Justice 7
Candice Delmas and Kimberley Brownlee, "Civil Disobedience" in The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (first section)
Barry Lam, HiPhi Nation, S3E8 "Uncivil Disobedience"
Authenticity, Appropriation, and Identity 1
Matt Strohl “On Culinary Authenticity”
Authenticity, Appropriation, and Identity 2
Jasmin Malik Chua "Why the Asian-American Food Movement Complicates What We Think About Authenticity" in Refinery 29
John Paul Brammer, “I’m from a Mexican family. Stop expecting me to eat ‘authentic’ food,” in The Washington Post
Authenticity, Appropriation, and Identity 3
John T. Edge and Tunde Wey, "Who Owns Southern Food?" in Oxford American (CW: The n-word appears in a quotation)
Authenticity, Appropriation, and Identity 4
Roxanne Gay, “We are all fragile creatures”
Soleil Ho, “Do you eat dog?” in Taste
Carol J Adams, “The sexual politics of meat”
Food, Art, and Aesthetics 1
Carolyn Korsmeyer, "Delightful, Delicious, Disgusting"
Jiayang Fan, “The Gatekeepers who get to decide what food is ‘disgusting,’” in The New Yorker
NO CLASS
Food, Art, and Aesthetics 2
Mohan Matthen, “Can food be art in virtue of its savour alone?”
Food, Art, and Aesthetics 3
Sara Bernstein, “Can unmodified food be culinary art?”
Food, Art, and Aesthetics 4
Shen-yi Liao, “Bittersweet Food”
Food, Art, and Aesthetics 5
Uku Tooming, “Aesthetics of Food Porn”
Food, Art, and Aesthetics 6
Thi Nguyen, “What’s Missing from Cookbook Reviews” in Aesthetics for Birds
“Food as Pop” in Pretty Much Pop
Conclusion