Food Choice as an Ethical Practice: Top-Down and Bottom-Up Approaches to a Possible Synthesis

Authors

  • Teresa Caporale University of Naples

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55613/jeet.v34i1.137

Keywords:

Food Ethics, Top-down approach, Bottom-up approach, Feuerbach

Abstract

Food, reflecting individual and collective ethical choices, is the focus of this essay, which explores the profound interrelationship between food practices and the moral principles that govern them. Beginning with Feuerbach’s maxim ‘Man is what he eats,’ the essay explores the complex relationship between diet, ethics, and philosophy, showing how every food decision is inextricably linked to ethical, social, and environmental considerations. It explores the transformation of the concept of ‘food’ from a mere dietary choice to an expression of a conscious lifestyle. It shows how everyone’s food choices reflect and influence our interaction with the world. Through historical and contemporary analysis, the multiple dimensions of diet are explored: from responsibility towards undernourished people to environmental sustainability, from the debate on omnivorism to the promotion of ethical diets such as vegetarianism and veganism. The exposition is then articulated through two dominant ethical currents: the top-down approach, based on universal principles, and the bottom-up approach, which emphasizes the importance of virtues and values in the specific context of food. The essay not only brings these perspectives into dialogue
but also invites critical reflection on the role of food in defining human identity and morality, underlining the urgency of a global ethical commitment that reconciles personal needs with collective and environmental ones.

References

Feuerbach, L. L’uomo è ciò che mangia, edited by F. Tomasoni, Morcelliana, Brescia 2015

Foot, P. Virtues and Vices: and other essays in moral philosophy, Oxford University Press, U.S.A. 2003

Gomarasca, P. Etica del cibo, Morcelliana, Brescia 2021

Heidegger, M. La questione della tecnica, in Saggi e discorsi, edited by G. Vattimo, Mursia, Milan 1991

Korsmeyer, C. Making Sense of Taste: Food and Philosophy, Cornell University Press, New York 2002

Korthals, M. Before dinner. Philosophy and Ethics of Food, Springer, USA 2004

Luther, M. Discorsi a tavola, edited by B. Ravasi and F. Ferrario, Claudiana, Turin 2017

Nietzsche, F. Ecce Homo, Oxford University Press, New York 2007

Pollan, M. The Omnivore’s Dilemma, The Penguin Press, New York 2006

Regan, T. Empty Cages. Facing the challenge of animal rights, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Lanham 2005

Riva, F. Cibo ed etica. L’altro e la fame, Castelvecchi, Rome 2021

Riva, F. Filosofia del cibo, Castelvecchi, Rome 2015

Singer, P. Animal Liberation, Open Road, New York 2015

Singer, P. Animal Liberation Now, Bodley Head, London 2023.

Singer, P. Practical Ethics, Cambridge University Press, 2011

Singer, P., Mason, J. The Ethics of what we eat, The Text Publishing Company, Melbourne 2006

Telfer, E. Food for Thought. Philosophy and Food, Routledge, London 1996

Tomasoni, F. Introduzione, in L. Feuerbach, L’uomo è ciò che mangia, edited by F. Tomasoni, Morcelliana, Brescia 2015

White, L. The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis, Science 155 (1967)

Downloads

Published

2024-04-29

How to Cite

Food Choice as an Ethical Practice: Top-Down and Bottom-Up Approaches to a Possible Synthesis. (2024). Journal of Ethics and Emerging Technologies, 34(1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.55613/jeet.v34i1.137

Similar Articles

1-10 of 41

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.