Introduction to Philosophy

Fall 2017
PHL 301 (42165)
Class Location: JES A215A
Instructor: Hannah Trees
Contact: hannah.trees@gmail.com
Office: Waggener 427
Office Hours: MWF 10-11, or by appointment

An Introduction to Philosophy Through Food

Have you ever gotten into an argument about whether a tomato is a fruit or a vegetable? Do
you wonder whether you should become a vegetarian? Have you ever binge-watched a cooking show
while eating junk food and considered what makes some foods better than others?
Food-related questions like these will be the focus of the discussions in this course; we will
be concerned with bringing the overarching problems of philosophy to bear on what we eat, how we
eat, and why we eat. Using food as our unifying theme will allow us to address major philosophic
issues – Does the external world exist, and can we have knowledge of it through our senses? What
makes objects persist through time? Do we have obligations to other people? What makes
something beautiful? – in a way that is more concrete and relevant to the choices we make every day.
We will be reading a wide variety of works from the Western philosophic tradition, with
units on epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and aesthetics. The assignments for the course are
designed to improve students’ skills as writers and critical readers, and above all, the course will aim
to teach students how to address complex issues in a philosophically rigorous manner.

Grading and Assignments

10% Participation and Attendance

15% Annotated Readings and Reading Responses
15% Epistemology in-class essay no. 1
15% Metaphysics short paper
15% Ethics in-class essay no. 2
10% Final Paper Outline and Meetings
20% Final Paper

There will be a variety of written assignments for the course. Annotated readings and short
reading responses will be due on a weekly basis and will require that you write notes and questions
on a printed copy of one of the readings for that week (which I will provide). These are meant to be
easy assignments that allow me to verify that everyone is doing the reading and to see what people
are most interested in. The in-class essays will involve both long- and short-answer questions about
the readings and topics discussed in class. For the metaphysics unit, instead of an in-class essay exam,
there will be a 3 page paper due at the end of the unit. There will be no exam or paper due for the
aesthetics unit. The final paper for the course will be 6 pages on a topic of your choice (I will provide
topics if an overwhelming majority of the class prefers this). You will be required to prepare a
substantial outline of this paper and meet with me twice: once to confirm your topic and again to
discuss your outline. If you do not meet with me or turn in an outline, I will not accept your final
paper.

Participation and Attendance Policy

This is a relatively small class (26 students), and so everyone will be expected to contribute
to class discussions on a regular basis. I will take attendance every class. If you have perfect
attendance but never participate in discussion, the highest participation and attendance grade you
can expect to receive is a C.

Late Assignment and Plagiarism Policy

Papers turned in late will be subject to a reduction of half a letter grade per day late. All
papers that do not properly cite sources and/or are not the work of the student will be given an F. A
failing grade for the course will be considered if extensive plagiarism is discovered.

Accommodations and Accessibility

Students with letters of accommodation from the Services for Students with Disabilities office
are encouraged to discuss with me how I can best make this course accessible for them. I am happy
to let students record lectures and discussions (granted that everyone else in the class agrees to being
recorded) and to help put students in touch with a peer note-taker. Students with disabilities who
need extra time getting to and from class should feel free (after letting me know) to arrive a few
minutes late and/or leave a few minutes early.

Contacting the Professor

Feel free to contact me via email if you would like to set up a time to meet with me outside
of class or have other basic questions about scheduling. If my regularly scheduled office hours don’t
work for you, you’re welcome to suggest a different time to meet. Please note that I will not answer
substantive questions about course material via email, and I will usually not respond to emails
between 8pm and 8am.

Reading Schedule
(Readings are subject to change. All changes will be announced in class and posted on Canvas.)

Unit 1: Epistemology – How and what do we know about food?

Introduction

Wednesday, 8/30 – Introduction to the course

Friday, 9/1 – What is epistemology and what does it have to do with food? (no reading)

Monday, 9/4 – Labor Day, no classes

Skepticism about the External World

Wednesday, 9/6 – selections from Descartes Meditations

Friday, 9/8 – Moore, “The Refutation of Idealism”

The Problem of Induction

Monday, 9/11 – selections from Hume’s An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding

Wednesday, 9/13 – Ambrose, “The Problem of Justifying Inductive Inference

Knowledge and the Senses

Friday, 9/15 – selections from Locke’s An Essay Concerning Human Understanding

Monday, 9/18 – Seigel, “The Epistemology of Perception”

Wednesday, 9/20 – Review, no reading

Friday, 9/22 – In-class essay

Unit 2: Metaphysic – What is food?

Introduction

Monday, 9/25 – Fine, “What is Metaphysics?”

Essences, Sortals, and Sandwiches

Wednesday, 9/27 – selections from Locke’s An Essay Concerning Human Understanding

Friday, 9/29 – Merriam-Webster, “10 Kinds of Sandwiches”; Pashman, “What Makes a Sandwich a
Sandwich”

Natural Kinds and Fruits

Monday, 10/2 – Hawley and Bird, “What are Natural Kinds?”

Wednesday, 10/4 – Rupp, “Is Tomato a Fruit? It Depends on How You Slice It.”; Levinovitz, “What is
‘Natural’ Food?”
Identity over Time and Perpetual Stews

Friday, 10/6 – Haslanger, “Persistence Through Time”

Monday, 10/9 – selections from Hawley’s How Things Persist

Constitution and Baking Cakes

Wednesday, 10/11 – Thomson, “The Statue and the Clay”

Friday, 10/13 – Baker, “Why Constitution is not Identity”

Monday, 10/16 – Review, no reading

Wednesday, 10/18 – Short Paper Due

 Unit 3: Ethics – What and how should we eat?

Eating Habits and Virtue Ethics

Friday, 10/20 – selections from Aristotle’s Ethics

Monday, 10/23 – Anscombe, “Modern Moral Philosophy”

Using Animals and Utilitarianism

Wednesday, 10/25 – selections from Singer’s Animal Liberation

Friday, 10/27 – Diamond, “Eating Meat and Eating People”

Deontological Ethics

Monday, 10/30 – Korsgaard, “A Kantian Case for Animal Rights”

Wednesday, 11/1 – Engel, “Hunger, Duty, and Ecology: On What We Owe Starving Humans”

Environmentalism and Care Ethics

Friday, 11/3 – Curtin, “Towards an Ecological Ethic of Care”

Monday, 11/6 – selections from Thomspon’s The Spirit of the Soil: Agriculture and Environmental Ethics

Poverty and Redistribution

Wednesday, 11/8 – selections from Rawls’ A Theory of Justice

Friday, 11/10 – Nagel, “Poverty and Food: Why Charity is Not Enough”

Monday, 11/13 – Review, no reading

Wednesday, 11/15 – In-class essay

Unit 4: Aesthetics – What makes something delicious?

Pleasure

Friday, 11/17 – Savedoff, “Intellectual and Sensuous Pleasure”; Bain and Brady, “Pain, Pleasure, and
Unpleasure”

Monday, 11/20 – Korsmeyer, “Delightful, Delicious, Disgusting”

Wednesday, 11/22 – Thanksgiving Break, cook delicious things

Friday, 11/24 – Thanksgiving Break, eat delicious things

Food as an Artform

Monday, 11/27 – Telfer, “Food as Art”

Wednesday, 11/29 – Kuehn, “Tasting the World: Environmental Aesthetics and Food as Art”
Food Aesthetics in Pop Culture

Friday, 11/30 – Romm, “What ‘Food Porn’ Does to the Brain”; McBride, “Food Porn”

Monday, 12/4 – Chang, “The Unified Theory of Deliciousness”

(suggested: watch the Netflix series, Chef’s Table)

Food Critics and Aesthetic Authority

Wednesday, 12/6 – Hume’s “On the Standards of Taste”

Friday, 12/8 – selections from Todd’s The Philosophy of Wine: A Case of Truth, Beauty, and Intoxication

Monday, 12/11 – Last day of class

Final Paper Due Date TBA