- Overview
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A book sharing the philosophical elements discovered in the food we eat
- Book Intro
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This book is a philosophy book that starts not with concepts, but with food. Watching bungeoppang (fish-shaped buns) being baked nice and brown, smelling the scent of Delimanjoo in the subway station, frying “backroom” chicken instead of ordering fried chicken… the writer discovered philosophical elements and wrote of philosophical concepts and philosophers in line with such experiences. No matter what the filling, the buns baked in the bungeoppang pan are all bungeoppang. Here, the writer recalled what Kant refers to as “reason,” the ability to know. A person’s ability for scientific knowledge is accepting the world through a “pan” that already takes a certain form. Does that mean that we cannot experience the raw world as it is, yet to be molded by this “pan of reason”? Is it impossible for a world to exist outside this cognition framework, this bungeoppang pan?
It’s all right if we cannot answer this question. As ideas continue one after the other, readers will familiarize themselves with philosophical thoughts and suddenly feel much closer to difficult philosophers.
The writer began to discover philosophical concepts in all aspects of her every day life after she began studying philosophy. In her daily life, she thought that food, which we eat every day, was a good subject matter where we can encounter philosophy. She talked of philosophy through a dish of food, and as she tasted the food, which resembled philosophical concepts in some ways, she realized how fun philosophy was and how close it was to our lives. She began writing to share the joy of discovering such elements.
Philosophical concepts are difficult. But it would be all too regrettable if we missed the opportunity to contemplate philosophy and enjoy it as we do food. Readers will come to know “tasty philosophy,” which they can freely ponder over and interpret, a philosophy that they can recall anytime, anywhere with this book.
- About the Author
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Oh Sumin
Oh Su Min is a philosophical essayist. She first majored in science education when she entered college, but was intrigued by philosophy after she happened to take a philosophy class, which eventually led her to change her major to philosophy. She graduated from the Department of Philosophy at Ewha Womans University, and is now preparing to continue her studies in graduate school.
She felt most wronged when she was full after eating something unsavory, so naturally, she began cooking in search of ways to enjoy delicious food. She received the Silver Prize from DaumKakao Brunch for Philosophy Near Us and also published the A Meal of Philosophy series—which would later turn into this book—in Brunch, a weekly magazine. She continues to write actively, writing contributions to Pinch, a feminist webzine. She plans to continue studying philosophy, capturing the border where daily life meets philosophy and describing them in her writing.
- Recommendation
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Recommended essay on philosophy by DaumKakao Brunch in 2019