https://map.oxy.edu/?id=1103#!m/267717

Choosers Full of Choosers: Ethics in the Microbial Age

This is the second lecture in a three-part series on the philosophy of food.

The European Enlightenment bequeathed to us a notion of the human being as a solitary, self-sufficient agent--the only being truly capable of making independent choices. This notion of human being grounds a conception of moral agency: if you're capable of choice, you're responsible for your choices. That capacity to choose also gives you the right to certain moral protection--immunity to being eaten by other moral agents, for instance.

Why Food Philosophy Matters

This is the first lecture in a three-part series on the philosophy of food.

Food is a challenging subject. There is little consensus about how and what we should produce and consume. It is not even clear what food is or whether people have similar experiences of it. On one hand, food is recognized as a basic need, if not a basic right. On the other hand, it is hard to generalize about it given the wide range of practices and cuisines, and the even wider range of tastes.