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Slideshow

"The Authority of Hunger" - Kate Manne (Cornell University)

Kate Manne
Miller Learning Center, Room 248
Kate Manne
Sage School of Philosophy
Cornell University
Special Information:
Co-sponsored with the Institute for Women's Studies, the Willson Center for Humanities and Arts, and the Mellon Foundation MultiVocal Humanities Grant in recognition of Women's HIstory Month

Co-sponsored with the Department of Philsophy Scott & Heather Kleiner Lecture Series, the Institute for Women's Studies, the Willson Center for Humanities and Arts, and the Mellon Foundation MultiVocal Humanities Grant in recognition of Women's HIstory Month, this talk draws from Dr. Kate Mann's most recently published book Unshrinking: How to Face Fatphobia. Part memoir, part polemic, and part philosophy, this book aims to show why fatphobia is a vital social justice issue and provide an analysis of what fatphobia is and how it works.

Abstract for "The Authority of Hunger"

In this talk, I canvass moral considerations that suggest that hunger is morally authoritative. What's more, trying to circumvent our hunger via current surgical and pharmaceutical technologies is risky, unpleasant, and often ineffective. I conclude by considering the case for avoiding even "silver bullet" appetite suppressants, for the sake of avoiding bodily self-alienation, enjoying the pleasure and sense of community that comes from satisfying our hunger (often in the company of loved ones), and also for the sake of resisting the oppressive norms of fatphobia. 

Kate Manne is an Associate Professor at the Sage School of Philosophy at Cornell University where she has been teaching since 2013. She is a former junior fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows (2011–2013). Manne did her graduate work at MIT (2006–2011), and works in moral, social, and feminist philosophy. She is the author of three books: Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny, Entitled: How Male Privilege Hurts Women, and Unshrinking: How to Face Fatphobia. Manne has published a number of scholarly papers on the foundations of morality and  regularly writes opinion pieces, essays, and reviews on moral and political topics in venues including The New York Times, The Boston Review,  Huffington Post, the Chronicle of Higher Education, and the Times Literary Supplement. Her newsletter, More to Hate canvasses misogyny, fatphobia, their intersection, and more.

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