This is only the latest rise in a long-term global trend: more and more of the human race are becoming overweight or obese. The number of people living with obesity has tripled over the last forty years, according to the World Economic Forum in 2018. It has been largely a first-world problem until now, with almost two-thirds of the planet’s obese folks living in developed countries such as the USA and the UK, but it’s inching up the problem scale in the rest of the world too.
For most of history, this global weight gain would have been a cause for celebration. Until around the twentieth century, only the rich could afford to eat enough to be fat, so obesity was a signifier of prosperity. In fact, the stylish gentleman’s tradition of leaving the last button on a waistcoat undone started with Britain’s King Edward VII (18411910), who adopted the practice to accommodate his expanding royal frontage.
Esta historia es de la edición October/November 2020 de Philosophy Now.
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Esta historia es de la edición October/November 2020 de Philosophy Now.
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The Two Dennises
Hannah Mortimer observes a close encounter of the same kind.
Heraclitus (c.500 BC)
Harry Keith lets flow a stream of ideas about permanence and change.
Does the Cosmos Have a Purpose?
Raymond Tallis argues intently against universal intention.
Is Driving Fossil-Fuelled Cars Immoral?
Rufus Duits asks when we can justify driving our carbon contributors.
Abelard & Carneades Yes & No
Frank Breslin says 'yes and no' to presenting both sides of an argument.
Frankl & Sartre in Search of Meaning
Georgia Arkell compares logotherapy and atheistic existentialism.
Luce Irigaray
Luce Irigaray, now ninety-two years old, was, among many other things, one of the most impactful feminists of the 1970s liberation movements - before she was marginalised, then ostracised, from the francophone intellectual sphere.
Significance
Ruben David Azevedo tells us why, in a limitless universe, we’re not insignificant.
The Present Is Not All There Is To Happiness
Rob Glacier says don’t just live in the now.
Philosophers Exploring The Good Life
Jim Mepham quests with philosophers to discover what makes a life good.