GUT ABSTRACTIONS. A PHILOSOPHICAL STUDY FOR THE PRESENT OF FOOD.

This dissertation investigates the role of the microbial turn within the domain of nutrition, focusing on the emergence of microbiome science and its centrality to envisioning food futures. By adopting a philosophical approach that conceptualizes philosophy as a form of negotiation, the research explores how diverse ontologies structure the categories and concepts shaping our engagement with food, including knowledge, values, norms, and practices. Specifically, the study examines two distinct probiotic food futures: one aligned with precision medicine and the other with the resurgence of food fermentation practices. These approaches reflect contrasting interpretations of the interplay between food, microbes, and health. The dissertation highlights a persistent tension within these probiotic futures between their aspirational promises and their tangible realizations, which creates a fragmented discursive space, where stakeholders operate from often incompatible worldviews. To face these challenges, the dissertation offers a philosophical framework grounded in ontology and conceptual analysis, aimed at systematically analyzing and comparing probiotic futures. These tools seek to move beyond the rhetoric of promissory hopes and scientific hype, offering conceptual clarifications that pave the way for more grounded and realistic accounts of probiotic approaches to food.