Event Detail

Mon Nov 19, 2012
Howison Library
4:10–6 PM
Graduate Research Colloquium
Erich Matthes (UC Berkeley)
What’s the Point of Preservation?

Folk and philosophers alike often assume that the mere fact that something is valuable gives us reason to preserve it. The aim of my talk is to demonstrate that there is more daylight between value and preservation than most assume. I will argue that reasons for preservation are both derivative and contingent by defending the thesis that preservation is called for only if and because we have opportunities to engage with objects of value. Absent such opportunities, there is no reason to preserve at all.