History, Value, and Irreplaceability

The ethics of historic preservation

“…For in a generic sense, everything that currently exists has a history, and so one might think that all questions about the preservation of existing things are ipso facto questions about historic preservation (cf. Matthes, , p. 37; Raz, , p. 28). However, historic preservation concerns something more specific: namely, preservation that is guided and justified by appeal to the historical significance of the thing to be preserved (for discussion of historical significance, see Abegg, ; Danto, ).…”

“…If this is true about valuable things in general, then it is especially true for things that are valuable because they are historically significant. Whether it is because they are more prone to degradation, the source of emotional attachments, or thought to be irreplaceable (Matthes, ), there is a widespread preoccupation with historic preservation. The abundance of historic preservation societies, the prominence of encyclopedic museums, the burgeoning National Register of Historic Places in the United States (with 90,018 entries in 2014!…”

Repatriation and the Radical Redistribution of Art

“…For instance, if someone steals my car, then they ought to give it back, not just compensate me for its monetary value: indeed, i could not justifiably demand compensation instead of return of the vehicle (Simmons 1995: 167). Art and artifacts in particular are often regarded as irreplaceable, and whether or not this is strictly true, they can certainly have a value that resists straightforward replacement with financial compensation (see Matthes 2013).…”

Shifting the balance of power in the UNESCO World Heritage Committee: an empirical assessment

“…Matthes (2013) notes the philosophical complications surrounding the ideas of uniqueness, incommensurability, and irreplaceability that may accompany discussions of value. Other philosophers of values seek to transgress 'unnecessary polarizations' (Joas 2000) between liberal and communitarian, individualist and collectivist, universalist and particularist, materialistic and postmaterialistic, objectivist and subjectivist perspectives on value/s.…”