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Food’s Purposes

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Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics

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Synonyms

Food (definition); Food’s ends; Understanding food

Introduction

What is food? Central to any discussion of philosophy of food is a description of what the term “food” can mean. One way to conceptualize food is by reference to its intended use, to look at the ends to which food is put. This is an explicitly teleological approach, by which a thing, in this case food, is made sensible by reference to the goal and outcome that a user has for the given thing. On the teleological account, an action becomes sensible by recognizing three things – the reasons that a person has for acting, their action, and the outcomes of that action (Henschke 2012, pp. 58–60). This entry makes sense of food by reference to the different outcomes that a person might have for food.

A specific case example of a specific food type, bread, is used through this entry. Six purposes for food are described: basic survival, quality of life, pleasure, personal relationships, cultural expression, and trade. Note...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, Charles Sturt University, 10-12 Brisbane Ave., Act 2600, Canberra, Australia

    Adam Henschke

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  1. Adam Henschke
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Correspondence to Adam Henschke .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

    Paul B. Thompson

  2. Department of Philosophy and Religion, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA

    David M. Kaplan

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Henschke, A. (2014). Food’s Purposes. In: Thompson, P.B., Kaplan, D.M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0929-4_204

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0929-4_204

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