53 - Christina Van Dyke: Medieval Bestiaries & The Philosophy of Food and Eating

Christina Van Dyke is an emerita professor of philosophy at Calvin College and a visiting professor of philosophy at Barnard College, where she specializes in the medieval period. She is the author of A Hidden Wisdom: Medieval Contemplatives on Self-Knowledge, Reason, Love, Persons, and Immortality. Christina and Robinson discuss the philosophy of food and eating—its gendered aspects, its religious history, some ethical concerns, and eating disorders—before turning to animals in medieval philosophy, where they touch on Hildegard von Bingen, medieval bestiaries, and the secret society known as the Brethren of Purity. You can keep up with Christina at cvdphilosopher.net.

linktree: https://linktr.ee/robinsonerhardt

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode

00:30 Introduction

3:05 Christina and Medieval Philosophy

5:41 Christina’s Interest in The Philosophy of Eating

6:59 Are Food and Eating Gendered?

23:39 Food, Gender, and Religion

32:40 How Philosophy Might Help Us Eat Better

36:27 Animals and the Brethren of Purity

45:11 Hildegard von Bingen and Medieval Animals

58:05 Hydras, Bestiaries, and Arthurian Lore

1:03:35 Animals, and What Humans Are

1:07:45 Animals, Angels, and Humans

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.