Synonyms
Introduction
This entry is concerned with the array of physiological and psychological states that distinctively promote, accompany, and follow the human act of eating. This array of states is here referred to – in a technical way – as “hunger.”
Hunger is arguably the most important concept in the study of malnutrition, undernutrition, and famine. A study of hunger is hence a crucial step toward framing philosophical questions pertaining to the ethics and politics of food access and dieting, subjects to be addressed in the second section of this entry. Hunger can also be approached from an existential point of view, as a defining aspect of the human condition. Through this lens, hunger raises little-explored philosophical difficulties, to be pointed out in the first section of this entry. Finally, an appreciation of the complex facets of hunger is relevant in high-end gastronomy and makes a difference to the...
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Borghini, A. (2016). Hunger. In: Thompson, P., Kaplan, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6167-4_563-1
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