Julian Baggini, a humanist philosopher, will give a public lecture, titled ‘Feast or Fast? Religion, Food and the Good Life’, on behalf of the Department of Philosophy on Wednesday 19 November from 4-6pm in Cornwallis Maths Lecture Theatre 1.

Julian Baggini is a writer and the founding editor of The Philosophers’ Magazine. He has a PhD on the philosophy of personal identity and is the author of over 20 books including The Pig That Wants to be Eaten (Granta, 2010), The Virtues of the Table (Granta, 2014) and The Ego Trip (Granta, 2012).

He will discuss how religious traditions sometimes celebrate food and eating in feasts, but they also often promote abstinence, moderation and asceticism. St Francis of Assisi even mixed his food with ashes, or quench its flavour with cold water.

Is religion too austere in warning against the pleasures of the flesh or can we all learn – believers or not – from its food traditions?

Julian will argue that religion gets some things right and some things wrong about the pleasures and virtues of eating, and try to unpick the good from the bad.

Full details of this event are available at: www.kent.ac.uk/secl/events/.