One of the most important things we do every day is eat. The question of eating – what and how – may seem simple at first, but it is dense with possible interpretations, reflecting the myriad roles food plays in our lives. In fact, as Raymond D. Boisvert and Lisa Heldke show in this book, it’s difficult to imagine a more philosophically charged act than eating. Philosophers at Table explores the philosophical scaffolding that supports this crucial aspect of everyday life, showing that humans are not just creatures with minds, but creatures with stomachs.

Examining a wealth of myths, literary works, histories and films – as well as philosophical ideas – the authors make the case for a philosophy of food. They look at Babette’s Feast in a discussion of hospitality as a central ethical virtue. They compare eating a fast-food meal in Accra with dining at a molecular gastronomy restaurant as a way of considering the nature of food as art. And they describe biting into a slug to explore tasting as a learning tool, a way of knowing. A surprising, original take on something we have not philosophically savoured enough, Philosophers at Table invites readers to think in fresh ways about the simple and important act of eating.

Raymond D. Boisvert is Professor of Philosophy at Siena College, New York, and the author of I Eat: Therefore I Think (2014). Lisa Heldke is Professor of Philosophy at Gustavus Adolphus College, St Peter, Minnesota. She is the author of Exotic Appetites: Ruminations of a Food Adventurer (2003).