Andrea Borghini in conversation with Achille Varzi.
From a philosophical perspective, the big question regarding boundaries concerns their source. Do they reflect the “objective” structure of reality or do they simply register demarcations determined by human needs and decisions? In this conversation we focus on concrete examples that arise in the humble daily environments of our kitchens. Is the boundary between fruits and vegetables a natural division? Is there any pressure to cut apples the way we do or is it just a matter of habit? In Plato’s Phaedrus, Socrates recommends that we carve the world along its natural joints, trying “not to splinter any part, as a bad butcher might do”. But what makes a butcher a good one?
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Achille Varzi is an Italian-born philosopher. He teaches at Columbia University, where he has been a member of the philosophy faculty since 1995. Varzi has made notable contributions to the fields of philosophical logic and metaphysics. His first book, Holes and Other Superficialities, was an exploration of the realist ontology of common sense and naive physics. He is currently an editor of The Journal of Philosophy and an advisory editor of the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Andrea Borghini is a professor of Metaphysics, Philosophy, Aesthetics, and Applied Ethics. His research focuses on highly specialized issues in the general areas of Metaphysics, the Philosophy of Biology, and the Philosophy of Food. Andrea published numerous articles in academic journals and magazines, as well as three books, and he coordinates “Culinary Mind”, an international centre for the philosophy of food and a network of academics, chefs and food writers.
