Food and Philosophy Final Exam

Equal vs Unequal Value Thesis

EVT: When we look at all living creatures, all species have equal thesis.

UVT: Animals have some value

Human lives are more value than animal lives.

Direct specism vs. Indirect specism

DS: Makes a judgement solely based on their species, not based on who they are (Frey opposses this)

ex: Humans are better than dogs simply because they are dogs

IS: Makes a judgement based on the traits rather than just their species

ex: lower intelligence or lack of rationality

Norcross on Factory Farming

Argues that consuming factory farmed meat is morally indefensible.

He rejects “Causal Impotence Objection” b/c he doesn’t believe it.

Causal Impotence Objection

Our actions don’t make a notable difference (Norcross rejects this)

Rollins on Animal Pain

The differences between animal and human pain are different as animal pain might be worse. To be sentient means you have intrinsic value.

Claims the lack of socialization is more harmful than the pain they endure.

Therefore, we must care for animals and know they matter if we have a moral obligation towards them.

Deontology

Actions/agents themselves carry moral weight

Categorical Imperative

You have an obligation to reason the action you have for everyone’s benefit

“Treat People how you want to be treated”

Principles of Humanity

Treat people never as a means, but an end. Treat people as they are valuable because they’re agents.

Doctrine of Doing vs. Allowing (DDA)

It’s better to allow a harm to happen rather than cause a harm to happen.

Varieties of Gluttony

Hasty, Sumptuous, Ravenous, Excessive, Fastidious

Hasty (gluttony)

Can’t wait for the food to come out

Sumptuous (gluttony)

When someone takes too much pleasure from the products involved.

Ravenous (gluttony)

Ignore everything for food

Excessive (gluttony)

Eating beyond what you need

Fastidious (gluttony)

Pleasure that comes from how food is prepared in a certain way (picky eating)

Views of taste (Hume and Kant)

David Hume argues that taste is a subjective feeling within the beholder

Immanuel Kant argues that aesthetic taste claims universal validity reflecting social class.

Van Dyke and Gendered Eating

Analyzes eating as a deeply gendered act that reflects cultural expectations of masculinity and femininity.

Women→ socialized to suppress or manage their appetite

Men→ consuming large amounts of food and eating red meat. Eating light or healthy food is considered feminine.

Realism vs Anti-Realism

Realism argues that entities, facts, and truths exist independently of human minds, language, or perception

→ truth, good, and beauty can be mind-independent.

Anti-realism: Argues that reality or truth is contingent upon our conceptual senses, perception, or verification

Empiricism vs Rationalism

Empiricism (Locke): All knowledge comes solely from sensory experiences and observations.

Rationalism (Descartes): Argues that the reason logic and innate ideas are the primary sources of knowledge, independent of sensory experiences.

Interaction Problem

If somethin causes a body to move, then that something is located in space because it exerted force.

Substance Dualism

You have physical properties that are distinct. The mind can’t be experienced by physics.

Against: Interaction Problem

For: Conceivability Argument

Property Dualism

The body can have physical and mental properties but stll be different.

Physicalism

Physical properties/ substances are the same as mental properties/substances

→ your conscious is seen as a physical property

Instrumental Good

An object appreciated for its use (means to an end)

ex: Money

Intrinsic Goods

An object that gets its value from itself

What is the Epicurus’ view of pleasure?

He believes pleasure is identical to happiness.

What is Epicurus’ view of death

If the body dies, the soul dies as well.

→ He believes the soul is located in the mind and is a physical thing distributed amongst our atoms

Philosophical Method vs Scientific Method

Philosophical Method→ uses logical arguments, ask ethical questions, and conceptual analysis

→ Thesis and Anti-Thesis should lead to synthesis

Scientific Method→ Empirical observation, experimentation, and falsifiable data aiming for an objective result

What is Plato’s view of death and the soul?

He sees dying as liberation and the soul as something that will live on

What are the “Forms”?

Unchanging and Constant

Where Truth, beauty, good, and justice comes from

Immaterial Realities

Descartes on the soul

Argued the union of the body and mind caused it to form a single unit. He believed animals didn’t have souls and the mind is immaterial.

Substance Dualism (For and Against)

You have physical properties that are distinct

The mind cant be explained by physics

→ For: Conceivability Argument

→ Against: Interaction Problem (if something causes a body to move, then that something is located in space because it exerted force)

Functionalism

Solves Multiple Realizability

→ The mind functions to allow experiences to be had for various creatures

3 types of links: External inputs, mental states, and behavioral outputs

Identity Theory

Against Multiple Realizability

→ We can reduce our discussion of minds to discuss the brain (reductive)

Mental states are internal physical states of the brain

Wirzba on Nature vs, Creation

To talk about creation in a theological context, means to talk about nature’s origin, purpose, and use

The memorial view of food

Our physical acts related to food are reflected mirrors that points us to an immaterial spiritual reality

→ a symbolic act representing Christ’s past sacrifice

Spiritualization View of Food

Eating, drinking, and food are seen mirrored to itself and with spiritual meaning. It shows the created goodness of things.

The mystical view of food

Full union w/God happens through the physical senses

Union without the spiritual occur without the body

Hedonism

Believes all things have the same intrinsic value.

Desire Satisfaction Theory

To live out the good life is to have your desires fulfilled (subjective)

Objective List Theory

There are a set of things necessary to live out the good life. If you don’t do them, you won’t live well.