PHIL 1440

Last Updated

  • Schedule of Classes - May 15, 2019 12:56PM EDT
  • Course Catalog - March 4, 2019 1:00PM EST

PHIL 1440
Ethics of Eating

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2018-2019.

We all face difficult moral decisions on occasion. This course introduces students to the idea that we face such a decision several times a day in deciding what to eat. How should facts about animal life and death inform this decision? Is the suffering involved in meat, egg, and dairy production really bad enough to make the practices immoral? How do our dietary choices affect local and non-local economies, the environment, and other people generally? Finally, given the deep connections between eating practices and various ethnic, religious and class identities, how can we implement a reasonable food policy for an expanding world population while also respecting these important differences? The goal of this course is not to teach some preferred set of answers to these questions. The goal is rather to give participants the basic tools required to reflect clearly and effectively on the questions themselves. These tools include a working knowledge of the major moral theories developed by philosophers, and an understanding of basic empirical issues related to food production, distribution, consumption, and disposal. In addition to readings, lectures, and required sections, the course will involve trips to some local food-production facilities, as well as supplemental lectures by experts from Cornell, Ithaca, and beyond.

When Offered Spring.

Distribution Category (KCM-AS)

View Enrollment Information

Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one lecture and one discussion.

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 17579 PHIL 1440   LEC 001

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  • 17580 PHIL 1440   DIS 201

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  • 17845 PHIL 1440   DIS 202

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  • 17860 PHIL 1440   DIS 204

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  • 17861 PHIL 1440   DIS 205

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