Coffee and philosophy

[Johnmac]

This looks like fun. I wondered whether there might be a few people here who would be interested in this: the Fairtrade topic has been discussed here quite often.



Coffee & Philosophy: Call for Abstracts

Scott F. Parker
scottfparker@gmail.com

Mike Austin, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Eastern Kentucky University
mike.austin@eku.edu

Abstracts are sought for a new title in the Wiley-Blackwell series Philosophy for Everyone, under the general editorship of Fritz Allhoff. Coffee & Philosophy will integrate the insights of philosophers, interdisciplinary academics such as sociologists and psychologists, and coffee insiders. The abstracts and resulting selected papers should be written for an educated, but non-specialized, audience of coffee enthusiasts. To learn more about the overall concept, see the already-released titles in the series, such as Wine & Philosophy, Food & Philosophy, Beer & Philosophy, or Running & Philosophy. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

The First Cup: Epistemology & Metaphysics
Plato’s Perfect Cup: The Forms and the Essence of Coffee
Existentialism and Coffee
Coffee and the Meaning of Life
Religion and Coffee: The Bean and Ultimate Being

To Roast or Not to Roast: The Ethics of Coffee
The Ethics of Fair Trade: Coffee and Social Justice
Is Coffee Green?: The Environmental Impact of Coffee Production and Consumption
Coffee and the Virtue of Loyalty
Caffeine as Performance-Enhancing Drug

The Wonderful Aroma of Bean: Coffee Aesthetics
The Art of Making and Appreciating Coffee/Espresso
The Phenomenology of Drinking Coffee and the Varieties of Coffee Experience
Coffee Snobbery: Is Starbucks Really Better than Folgers?
The Aesthetics of the Coffee House: The Perfect Café

The Grounds for Debate: Coffee Culture
The Phenomenon of the “Coffee Shop Philosopher”
The Popular Socrates Café Movement
Friendship and Community through Coffee Drinking
The Impact of Starbucks on Coffee Drinking and Culture
Why Coffee is Better than Tea

An Espresso Trip through The History of Philosophy
Coffee in Philosophy: From Voltaire’s 60 Cups a Day to Nietzsche’s and Kant’s Abstinence
The Role of the European Coffee House in Relation to the Enlightenment
The Relationship Between Caffeine and Doing Philosophy

Guidelines for Abstracts and Contributions
• Abstract of paper (approximately 250 words) due by: September 15, 2009
• Accepted authors will receive notification by October 15, 2009
• The submission deadline for accepted papers will be February 1, 2010
• Final papers must be between 4000-4500 words and be aimed at a general, educated audience.

Abstracts should be submitted electronically to scottfparker@gmail.com and/or mike.austin@eku.edu. Other proposals for series titles are also welcome; please direct those to Fritz Allhoff at fritz.allhoff@wmich.edu

[EspressoSquirrel]

So many interesting topics to discuss, most do look like topic titles that you would see on this forum. I was never any good at writing in an academical way. But I have always had a certain aprehensive interest in philosophy. I'm not sure, maybe a bigger question is why philosophers chose wine, food, beer, running and now coffee. Chemical effects on the brain?

Really interesting project