Wine & Philosophy - Book Review

Wine & Philosophy -A Symposium on Thinking and Drinking- is a new book edited by Fritz Allhoff, PHD .   

Fritz is an assistant professor of philosophy at Western Michigan University and a Research Fellow at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, Australian National University, Canberra.

He has done marvelous work in compiling the words and thoughts of a broad range of writers, presenting many schools of thought.

This enlightening and entertaining book may take you into  deeper thought about wine and the experiences it evokes than any other written work.

Where else would you find comments by Plato; learn how wine helped Odysseus defeat the Cyclops, Polyphemus; or Immanuel Kant's views on the wine experience.

However, to think of this book as simply a recount of history would be a mistake for it also delivers great commentary on important contemporary issues such as "Who Cares if You Like It, This is a Good Wine Regardless" by  George Gale or "Taste How Expensive This Is: A Problem of Wine and Rationality" by Justin Weinberg; or "Shipping across State Lines: Wine and the Law" by Drew Massey.

One of my favorite chapters is Matt Kramer's eloquent article "The Notion of Terrior" that explorers that natural wonder of Burgundy wine.

I also found "Is There Coffee or Blackberry in My Wine?" by Kevin W. Sweeny eye opening and instructive.

It  begins with the E.E. Cummings quote:

"Always the beautiful answer who asks a more beautiful question"

Wine & Philosophy asks and gives us the opportunity to ask beautiful questions.

I recommend this book to any wine lover, novice or snob.

 

Table of Contents

The Art & Culture of Wine

1. Wine in Ancient Greece: Some Platonist Ponderings: Harold Tarrant
2. On and Off The Wagon: Wine and the American Character: Jonathan Alsop
3. Muse in a Stem Glass: Art, Wine, and Philosophy: Kirsten Shilakes
4. In Vino Sanitas: Fred Paola

Tasting & Talking about Wine

5. Mmmm… not Aha!: Imaginative versus Analytical Experiences of Wines: John Dilworth
6. Talk about Wine?: Kent Bach
7. Winespeak or Critical Communication?: Why People Talk About Wine: Adrienne and Keith Lehrer

Wine & Its Critics

8. What the Wine Critic Tells Us: Jack Bender
9. Experiencing Wine: Why Critics Mess Up (Some of the Time): Jamie Goode

The Beauty of Wine

10. You'll Never Drink Alone: Wine Tasting and Aesthetic Practice: Ole Martin Skilleas and Douglas Burnham
11. Who Cares if You Like It, This is a Good Wine Regardless: George Gale
12. Listening to the Wine Consumer: The Art of Drinking: Steve Charters

The Metaphysics of Wine

13. Is There Coffee or Blackberry in My Wine?: Kevin Sweeney
14. The Soul of Wine: Digging for Meaning: Randall Grahm
15. The Notion of Terroir: Matt Kramer

The Politics & Economics of Wine

16. Wine Tasting Epiphany: An Analysis of the 1976 California vs. France Tasting: Orley Ashenfelter, Richard Quandt and George Taber
17. The Old World and the New: Worlds Apart?: Warren Winiarski
18. Taste How Expensive This Is: A Problem of Wine and Rationality: Justin Weinberg
19. Shipping across State Lines: Wine and the Law: Drew Massey

Wine & Philosophy
A Symposium on Thinking and Drinking

Blackwell Publishing

ISBN: 9781405154314
ISBN10: 1405154314

Publication Dates

USA: Nov 2007
Rest of World: Nov 2007
Australia: Jan 2008

Format 229 x 152 mm , 6 x 9 in

Details 328 pages, 11 illustrations.