Card 6.26 · Root VI — The Philosophy of X Family
Philosophy of Food
Can you be wrong about what tastes good?
Philosophy of food asks whether taste can be cultivated, whether eating carries meaning, and what ethical weight attaches to what we eat.
Where it sits
Under VI. Philosophy of X. Borders 5.7 Everyday aesthetics, 5.3 Taste and judgement, 3.3.6 Animal ethics, 6.31.
The rival answers
| Position | Claim |
|---|---|
| Gustatory subjectivism | Taste is preference; there is nothing to be right about |
| Aesthetic cognitivism about food | Food admits of genuine appreciation and expertise |
| Hierarchical exclusion | Taste and smell are lower senses, incapable of aesthetic judgement |
| Cultural constitution | What tastes good is constituted by tradition and practice |
| Ethical gastronomy | Eating is inseparable from its moral context |
Key figures
| Figure | Dates | Tradition | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plato | 428–348 BCE | Greek | Appetite as the lowest part of the soul |
| Ibn Butlan | d. 1066 | Islamic | Taqwim al-Sihha; food within a framework of regimen |
| Brillat-Savarin | 1755–1826 | French | Gastronomy as a subject of serious study |
| Carolyn Korsmeyer | b. 1950 | Analytic | Taste as a genuinely aesthetic sense |
Connections
→ 5.7, 5.3 · ↔ 3.3.6, 6.31, 3.3.2 · ◇ aesthetic cognitivism, cultural constitution · ○ Axial Age; Islamic golden age; Modern; Table 10
→ narrower questions · ↔ questions it borders · ◇ the positions, mapped in Part III of the book · ○ the eras and comparison tables (Parts IV and V)
The full card is in the book
In The Coordinates of Thought this card goes on to a worked example that sets the answers against one case, and to where the question touches daily life — page 328.
On Coordinates of Thought
Conversations about this question in Food & taste:
- Once you know how a food was produced, you cannot honestly taste it the same way 6 replies
- Langar, the Shabbat table and Confucius’s sauce: what does eating together do? 6 replies
- Plato called my trade a knack. Why did philosophy decide taste and smell don’t count? 6 replies
- Wine shows hand out medals. Can someone be wrong about what tastes good? 6 replies
- Reading group: Brillat-Savarin’s Physiology of Taste, aphorisms and first meditations 5 replies