Introduction

Welcome to the Political Theory Cookbook. This blog presents  an adaptation-for-home-use of the theories proposed by the Ancient and Modern Western Political theorists. It seeks to be both an illustration of and an online guide to political theory and a portal for public engagement. Current political events have led some to ask: What is the goal of a society: individual or collective gain? How do we know truth from speculation? Why does a society generate vast inequality? These questions are relevant today, but they are not new. Political theorists from Aristotle to Marx have considered them. This blog visualizes those theorists’ ideas, using cooking as the medium and a photoblog and interpretive text as the platform. To some, a truffle is a magical delicacy but it can also be an illustration of Francis Bacon’s concept about the Wisdom of the Marketplace. By pairing the familiar — food — with the less familiar — theory — this blog attempts to connect the tangible practice of cooking to some of the abstract ideas that have served to define and defend political ideals.