The impossibility of an ethical consumer

• The thesis of this article is that the notion of an ethical food consumer is untenable unless it is coupled with a conception of food citizenship. The main arguments delivered against the notion of ethical food consumption are that consumption does not take the operations of moral psychology into account, nor afford means to tackle structural problems inherent in the relation between consumer and producer. The notion of an ethically aware food citizen is on the other hand capable of handling these problems head on. Hence, a realistic food ethics has to operate with an integrative view of consumption and citizenship.

Subject headings

HUMANIORA  -- Filosofi, etik och religion -- Etik (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Philosophy, Ethics and Religion -- Ethics (hsv//eng)

Keyword

food citizen

moral psychology

social cognitive theory

virtues

Publication and Content Type

kap (subject category)

ref (subject category)