Thought for food

The idea of philosophizing about food still strikes many as pretentious and absurd, despite a recent growth in the literature. It embarrasses practical, empirical Anglo-Saxons, who would rather leave such musings to our more phenomenological and literary-minded Continental cousins. Nicola Perullo is one such cousin, but now that his Taste as Experiencehas been translated into English, it is perhaps time to rec­onsider our cultural suspicion of combining intellect and ingestion…

Read

Gifts and God

A curious modern ritual of the festive season is to lament the excess and commercialisation of Christmas while simultaneously partaking in it. Perhaps it is not only at family gatherings that Christmas has a tendency to bring to a head simmering tensions. It also seems to be a time when the dissonance between our simultaneous loving and loathing of capitalism becomes almost unbearable.

Read

Confucian Harmony and Freedom

Harmony is as core a value in classical Chinese thought as Freedom is in the modern west and it is often thought that the two conflict, with major political implications. However, the three broadly Confucian scholars in this episode deny there is a fundamental conflict between freedom and harmony. They are Chenyang Li, Anna Sun and David B. Wong. Produced in association with the Berggruen Institute’s Philosophy and Culture Centre.

Read