Abstract

: On the aesthetics of food and the art of cooking The aesthetic nature of food and cooking is a neglected field in philosophical aesthetics. This neglect is due, among others, to the intellectual perspective on art and the anthropological dualism characteristic of modernism. In this essay the aesthetics of food and the art of cooking are explored. The system of food in philosophy firstly examined. In the second part, a distinction is made between natural and culinary gastronomical beauty. Attention is given to the development of some philosophical terminology applicable to the field of study, and the art of cooking analysed in contrast to other forms of artistic expression. In the last section, some cultural and political implications of the aesthetics of food and the art of cooking are considered. South African Journal of Philosophy Vol. 25 (4) 2006: pp. 290-304