Erich Hatala Matthes
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ehatmat.bsky.social
Erich Hatala Matthes
@ehatmat.bsky.social
Philosophy professor at Wellesley College
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It's publication day for WHAT TO SAVE AND WHY! A book for anyone and everyone who has ever cared about saving something. I hope you enjoy! #philsky

www.amazon.com/What-Save-Wh...
And then there's Eddie Izzard on the "American slang" use of donut with a more positive valence: youtube.com/watch?v=1GaDAjHKYC4&themeRefresh=1
November 6, 2025 at 3:16 PM
The Routledge Handbook of Nature and Environmental Aesthetics is now out. Lots of great stuff, including a chapter by me on Beauty and Love of Place. Check it out, and ask your library to get a copy! #philsky
Routledge Handbook of Nature and Environmental Aesthetics
This handbook provides the first comprehensive overview of philosophical thinking about the aesthetics of the natural and human-made environments, exploring the topic's foundations, key ideas, and cur...
www.routledge.com
October 1, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Reposted by Erich Hatala Matthes
When a typo in your Google search leads to new and exciting philosophical positions
September 22, 2025 at 9:25 PM
My revised and expanded entry on the Ethics of Cultural Heritage is now live in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy! Appropriation, repatriation, monuments, and more, as well as a new section on the nascent aesthetic injustice literature. #philsky

plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethi...
The Ethics of Cultural Heritage (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
plato.stanford.edu
September 23, 2025 at 12:05 AM
Grateful to Carolyn Korsmeyer for her thoughtful review of What to Save and Why in Mind! #philsky

academic.oup.com/mind/advance...
What to Save and Why: Identity, Authenticity, and the Ethics of Conservation, by Erich Hatala Matthes
Scavenging in the recesses of an attic, I recently came across a pair of shoes I hadn’t worn since university. I debated saving them as a relic of bygone f
academic.oup.com
September 18, 2025 at 6:39 PM
One of the conclusions of my discussion of cancel culture in Drawing the Line is that it's generally a bad idea to cancel artists and performers (or most anyone, really) for things that they *say* (in contrast with things that they *do*). Sadly seeing more evidence for why this is true. #philsky
September 18, 2025 at 12:39 PM
This paper from 7 years ago suddenly relevant again in the face of Trump's new "review" of Smithsonian exhibitions. #philsky

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Who Owns Up to the Past? Heritage and Historical Injustice | Journal of the American Philosophical Association | Cambridge Core
Who Owns Up to the Past? Heritage and Historical Injustice - Volume 4 Issue 1
www.cambridge.org
August 12, 2025 at 8:56 PM
If anyone on here still wants a copy of What to Save and Why but hasn't gotten one yet, you can grab it on Amazon for $10 and change! www.amazon.com/What-Save-Wh...
July 23, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Characteristically great piece by @add-hawk.bsky.social. Makes me wonder how many of us studied creative writing and yet somehow ended up... here.

dailynous.com/2025/07/15/b...
Beyond Argument: The Creative Craft of Philosophy Writing (guest post) - Daily Nous
"I want to talk about the part of philosophy writing that comes after the argument part: the bit where you work on expressing your idea clearly, delicately, even personally. I want to talk about the v...
dailynous.com
July 15, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Fantastic to see What to Save and Why reviewed in the New York Review of Books! #philsky
July 3, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Reposted by Erich Hatala Matthes
Sobering piece in @nytimes.com compares China's advances in clean energy to the U.S.'s retrenchment in fossil fuels. Hard to read at a moment when the U.S. is giving up on a more affordable, healthier, and more sustainable future.

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

🧪🔌💡☀️💨🔋
June 30, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Opinion | Will America’s National Parks Survive Trump?
www.nytimes.com
June 1, 2025 at 1:22 PM
I keep thinking the price on What to Save and Why can't possible get lower, but it's now down to $13 and change. Good time to grab a copy if you haven't! #philsky

www.amazon.com/What-Save-Wh...
What to Save and Why: Identity, Authenticity, and the Ethics of Conservation
Amazon.com: What to Save and Why: Identity, Authenticity, and the Ethics of Conservation: 9780197744550: Matthes, Erich Hatala: Books
www.amazon.com
May 22, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Nice to see What to Save and Why in the TLS! @wellesley.edu @oupphilosophy.bsky.social
'Would we want to preserve Monet’s ‘Water Lilies’ on an empty planet?'

Jane O’Grady on the philosophy of conservation
Preservation orders | TLS
www.the-tls.co.uk
April 25, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Check me out in The Saturday Evening Post for Earth Day! #philsky
Who we are is defined in part by the things that we think are worth caring for, and whether we care for these things, in turn, shapes our sense of self.
Our World Needs More Stewards | The Saturday Evening Post
In a society brimming with things worth preserving, how do we decide what to save?
www.saturdayeveningpost.com
April 23, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Reposted by Erich Hatala Matthes
Who we are is defined in part by the things that we think are worth caring for, and whether we care for these things, in turn, shapes our sense of self.
Our World Needs More Stewards | The Saturday Evening Post
In a society brimming with things worth preserving, how do we decide what to save?
www.saturdayeveningpost.com
April 22, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Reposted by Erich Hatala Matthes
Woo hoo!!! My amazing @wellesley.edu ES colleague, @jayturner.bsky.social has been awarded a Guggenheim fellowship, for his excellent upcoming project: www.gf.org/stories/anno...
Announcing the 2025 Guggenheim Fellows — Guggenheim Fellowships: Supporting Artists, Scholars, & Scientists
Since 1925, the Guggenheim Foundation has given Fellowships to exceptional artists, writers, scholars, and scientists, empowering them to pursue meaningful work under the freest possible conditions.
www.gf.org
April 16, 2025 at 5:51 PM
What to Save and Why is on sale for just $21.90!

As one Amazon reviewer wrote: "Yes, it is philosophy, but it is written in a way that engages anyone with an interest in these issues." Anyone could include you!

#philsky

www.amazon.com/What-Save-Wh...
What to Save and Why: Identity, Authenticity, and the Ethics of Conservation
Amazon.com: What to Save and Why: Identity, Authenticity, and the Ethics of Conservation: 9780197744550: Matthes, Erich Hatala: Books
www.amazon.com
March 7, 2025 at 10:07 PM
Reposted by Erich Hatala Matthes
but somehow people think that being able to multiply large numbers mentally should mean that you get to decide whose grandma gets healthcare or something and it turns out that's actually a very stupid thought
February 18, 2025 at 11:48 PM
Reposted by Erich Hatala Matthes
Reports of yet another battery project on the rocks:

Freyr Battery is canceling plans for its $2.6B gigafactory in Georgia, which promised 723 jobs and 34 GWh of annual battery manufacturing capacity.

This project did not have a DOE loan.

www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2025/02/06/f...

🔌💡 🔌🚗
February 7, 2025 at 2:02 PM
I wrote about 5 books I would save from my personal library for The New Books Network newsletter. newbooksnetwork.substack.com/p/truth-matt...
Truth Matters
Exciting news for e-book readers, Alternative Angles: Creativity, Fast Five, 3 Episodes to Understand Poetry, and Truth Matters: A Conversation with Robert P. George and Cornel West
newbooksnetwork.substack.com
January 31, 2025 at 12:03 AM
Once upon a time, I worked in a museum gift shop. I wrote about an important lesson I learned there for Zócalo Public Square. #philsky #museums #conservation

www.zocalopublicsquare.org/right-now-th...

Hope @wellesleycollege.bsky.social folks will enjoy. It's very Non Ministrari sed Ministrare.
Right Now, the World Needs More Caretakers | Essay
Support and Steward What You Love—Whether It’s Nature or Culture
www.zocalopublicsquare.org
January 27, 2025 at 1:24 PM
I was on BBC Radio Scotland this morning to talk about What to Save and Why. I'm sure as heck not going to listen to it, but you can catch it around the 10-minute mark here if you're interested. #philsky

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Sunday Morning - with Zara Janjua - BBC Sounds
Isolationism, the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and Robert Burns' poetry
www.bbc.co.uk
January 26, 2025 at 12:48 PM