“Meat” as a Functional Concept Apt to Incorporate Novel Instances

By introducing the possibility of producing meat either from plants or from animal stem cells, technological innovations have opened the door to considering meat as an artefactual object, defined by the functions it is designed to perform. Under this interpretation, plant-based and cultivated meat would be regarded as full-fledged meat. By analysing the notion of artefactuality, this paper reviews the main definitions of “artefact” and evaluates whether meat meets these criteria. It then examines whether a functional account of meat aligns with the development of functions in the philosophy of artefacts. Ultimately, the paper concludes that, like certain other food categories, “meat” is well suited to be interpreted as a functional concept apt to incorporate novel instances.