Nourishment: A Philosophy of the Political Body

by Corine Pelluchon, Justin E. H. Smith (Translator)

Overview

In her new book, Corine Pelluchon argues that the dichotomy between nature and culture privileges the latter. She laments that the political system protects the sovereignty of the human and leaves them immune to impending environmental disaster. Using the phenomenological writings of French philosophers like Emmanuel Levinas, Jacques Derrida, and Paul Ricœur, Pelluchon contends that human beings have to recognise humanity's dependence upon the natural world for survival and adopt a new philosophy of existence that advocates for animal welfare and ecological preservation.
In an extension of Heidegger's ontology of concern, Pelluchon declares that this dependence is not negative or a sign of weakness. She argues instead, that we are nourished by the natural world and that the very idea of nourishment contains an element of pleasure. This sustenance comforts humans and gives their lives taste. Pelluchon's new philosophy claims then, that eating has an affective, social and cultural dimension, but that most importantly it is a political act. It solidifies the eternal link between human beings and animals, and warns that the human consumption of animals and other natural resources impacts upon humanity's future.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781350073906
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	02/21/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	416
File size:	580 KB

About the Author

Corine Pelluchon is Professor of Philosophy at Paris-Est-Marne-La-Vallée, France. She is author of Leo Strauss and the Crisis of Rationalism: Another Reason, Another Enlightenment (2015) which won the Francois Furet Prize.

Justin E. H. Smith is Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Paris 7, Denis Diderot, France. He is a regular contributor to The New York Times, Harper's Magazine, n+1, Slate, and The Chronicle of Higher Education. Smith is also an editor-at-large of Cabinet Magazine.
Corine Pelluchon is Professor of Philosophy and Applied Ethics at the University of Paris-Est-Marne-La-Vallée, France.
Justin E. H. Smith is Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Paris 7 - Denis Diderot, France.

Table of Contents

Prelims
Acknowledgements

Introduction

Part 1. A Phenomenology of Nourishment
1. Living From
2. Space, Milieu, and Other Existants
3. Eating Disorders

Part 2. To Institute a Common World
4. A New Social Contract
5. Reconstructing Democracy
6. Beyond National Boundaries

Conclusion

Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

In this original and important book, Corrine Pelluchon argues for nothing less than a new social contract that does justice to the biosphere, to all life, especially other animals, as well as human life, and to future generations. On the basis of a phenomenology of food and nourishment, she shows how freedom depends on the "love of life" and on sharing what nourishes with others. Pelluchon also takes up the practical challenge of reimagining democratic institutions to sustain this ethics of life. Anyone interested in questions of justice and environmental or food ethics should read this book.

From the Publisher