Conviviality for One

Julian Baggini is a UK-based writer and philosopher. In his speech from the fourth MAD Symposium, What’s Cooking?, he discusses the significance of sitting around a table and sharing a meal. He takes aim at of-the-moment inventions like Soylent, which are based on the idea that most food should be ingested purely for survival. Cooking, to Baggini, is fundamentally human and always involves the people, animals, and values that make the act possible.

Baggini is the Founding Editor of The Philosophers’ Magazine and has contributed to several publications, including the Guardian. His most recent book is The Virtues of the Table: How to Eat and Think.