Erich Hatala Matthes
@ehatmat.bsky.social
Philosophy professor at Wellesley College
Pinned
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...
www.amazon.com/What-Save-Wh...
Reposted by Erich Hatala Matthes
It’s book release day! I’m back on social media! I feel slightly awkward about it because part of the book is about how social media transforms your motivations for communication!
But honestly writing a book is lonely, weird basement-work, and now I want to talk to people about this weird jank.
But honestly writing a book is lonely, weird basement-work, and now I want to talk to people about this weird jank.
January 13, 2026 at 4:09 PM
It’s book release day! I’m back on social media! I feel slightly awkward about it because part of the book is about how social media transforms your motivations for communication!
But honestly writing a book is lonely, weird basement-work, and now I want to talk to people about this weird jank.
But honestly writing a book is lonely, weird basement-work, and now I want to talk to people about this weird jank.
Reposted by Erich Hatala Matthes
If you are looking for a gift that will really get inside someone’s head and subtly undermine their confidence (and who isn’t?!), might I recommend gifting them a copy of ‘awkwardness’ with zero context or explanation? Now on sale for $17, but hurry— only 9 copies left!
a.co/d/bw2KIaS
a.co/d/bw2KIaS
Awkwardness: A Theory
Amazon.com: Awkwardness: A Theory: 9780197683606: Plakias, Alexandra: Books
a.co
December 19, 2025 at 11:50 AM
If you are looking for a gift that will really get inside someone’s head and subtly undermine their confidence (and who isn’t?!), might I recommend gifting them a copy of ‘awkwardness’ with zero context or explanation? Now on sale for $17, but hurry— only 9 copies left!
a.co/d/bw2KIaS
a.co/d/bw2KIaS
Reposted by Erich Hatala Matthes
Angela Sun argues that consent must always be revocable. Even when someone intends their consent to be binding "no matter what," revocation dissolves the permission. This protects bodily integrity even when we're not in a "sound state of mind."
journals.publishing.umich.edu/phimp/articl...
journals.publishing.umich.edu/phimp/articl...
Can Consent Be Irrevocable?
This article argues that consent must be revocable. I present two arguments for this conclusion. On the argument from informed consent, irrevocable consent lacks validity because it cannot be sufficie...
journals.publishing.umich.edu
December 12, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Angela Sun argues that consent must always be revocable. Even when someone intends their consent to be binding "no matter what," revocation dissolves the permission. This protects bodily integrity even when we're not in a "sound state of mind."
journals.publishing.umich.edu/phimp/articl...
journals.publishing.umich.edu/phimp/articl...
My one holiday shopping plug for my books. Super cheap now (under $15)
*What to Save and Why* is "a clear, accessible, thought-provoking book" per the NYRB
*Drawing the Line* "feels like a friend talking you through different angles on a problem that's been bothering you for years" per the LARB
*What to Save and Why* is "a clear, accessible, thought-provoking book" per the NYRB
*Drawing the Line* "feels like a friend talking you through different angles on a problem that's been bothering you for years" per the LARB
November 28, 2025 at 2:28 PM
My one holiday shopping plug for my books. Super cheap now (under $15)
*What to Save and Why* is "a clear, accessible, thought-provoking book" per the NYRB
*Drawing the Line* "feels like a friend talking you through different angles on a problem that's been bothering you for years" per the LARB
*What to Save and Why* is "a clear, accessible, thought-provoking book" per the NYRB
*Drawing the Line* "feels like a friend talking you through different angles on a problem that's been bothering you for years" per the LARB
Reposted by Erich Hatala Matthes
Coming soon(ish)
November 19, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Coming soon(ish)
Reposted by Erich Hatala Matthes
"There is no playbook for reducing exposure when people’s homes are being sprinkled with lead dust from the sky."
A sobering piece from the NYTimes on the dire consequences of the international trade in recycled lead for front-line communities in Africa. #energysky
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
A sobering piece from the NYTimes on the dire consequences of the international trade in recycled lead for front-line communities in Africa. #energysky
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
The Auto Industry’s Lead Recycling Program is Poisoning People (Gift Article)
We documented the toxic fallout of a green technology.
www.nytimes.com
November 18, 2025 at 2:48 PM
"There is no playbook for reducing exposure when people’s homes are being sprinkled with lead dust from the sky."
A sobering piece from the NYTimes on the dire consequences of the international trade in recycled lead for front-line communities in Africa. #energysky
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
A sobering piece from the NYTimes on the dire consequences of the international trade in recycled lead for front-line communities in Africa. #energysky
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
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
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
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
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
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
When a typo in your Google search leads to new and exciting philosophical positions
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...
plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethi...
The Ethics of Cultural Heritage (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
plato.stanford.edu
September 23, 2025 at 12:05 AM
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...
plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethi...
Grateful to Carolyn Korsmeyer for her thoughtful review of What to Save and Why in Mind! #philsky
academic.oup.com/mind/advance...
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
Grateful to Carolyn Korsmeyer for her thoughtful review of What to Save and Why in Mind! #philsky
academic.oup.com/mind/advance...
academic.oup.com/mind/advance...
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
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
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...
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
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...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
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
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...
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...
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
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...
dailynous.com/2025/07/15/b...
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/...
🧪🔌💡☀️💨🔋
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
🧪🔌💡☀️💨🔋
June 30, 2025 at 8:42 PM
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/...
🧪🔌💡☀️💨🔋
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
🧪🔌💡☀️💨🔋
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...
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
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...
www.amazon.com/What-Save-Wh...
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
Jane O’Grady on the philosophy of conservation
Preservation orders | TLS
www.the-tls.co.uk
April 25, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Nice to see What to Save and Why in the TLS! @wellesley.edu @oupphilosophy.bsky.social
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
Check me out in The Saturday Evening Post for Earth Day! #philsky
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
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.
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
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...
Timely in light of NEH cuts...
@zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social #philsky
www.zocalopublicsquare.org/right-now-th...
@zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social #philsky
www.zocalopublicsquare.org/right-now-th...
Right Now, the World Needs More Caretakers | Essay
Support and Steward What You Love—Whether It’s Nature or Culture
www.zocalopublicsquare.org
April 3, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Timely in light of NEH cuts...
@zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social #philsky
www.zocalopublicsquare.org/right-now-th...
@zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social #philsky
www.zocalopublicsquare.org/right-now-th...