Abstract
<jats:p>The study examines the epistemological foundations, principles, and limitations underlying vegan and halal nutrition. In this context, it investigates the relationship between nutrition and philosophy from a holistic perspective, encompassing the biological necessity of nourishment, its cultural influences, medical boundaries, legal dimensions, and sociological reflections. It approaches the act of eating as an ontological ground that transcends epistemic boundaries, shaping human understanding of self, nature, other living beings, and God. The original contribution of the dissertation to the national and international literature lies in its ethical comparison of veganism and halal nutrition within the framework of food ethics debates. The first chapter explores the historical transformations of food ethics within the history of philosophy. This part is significant as it traces the ethical evolution of eating practices from Antiquity to the technology- centered paradigms of the modern age. The second chapter focuses on the epistemology of nutrition, examining how knowledge, belief, and cultural meaning shape food preferences. It comparatively analyzes the epistemic foundations, coherence, and limitations of halal and vegan nutrition. The third chapter centers on the phenomenological dimension of eating, investigating the existential aspects of the relationship that humans establish with themselves, society, nature, and God through the act of nourishment. Within the framework of food ethics, the animal-centered philosophy of pain in veganism, the meaning of suffering, and the fundamental issues surrounding the relationship between pain and eating are discussed. The debates on the meaning of suffering as an existential experience are evaluated in this context. Accordingly, the dissertation seeks to illuminate the human ontological position in the world and the relational structure of existence through the act of nourishment. The study advances the claim that, in the philosophical sense of nutrition ethics, nutrition is a multilayered phenomenon that determines human beings ethical responsibility, the epistemological foundations of nutritional choices, and the ontological horizon that emerges through nutrition. Keywords: Food Ethics; Halal Nutrition; Veganism; Epistemology of Nutrition; Phenomenology of Nutrition</jats:p>