Freya Mathews

Freya Mathews is an Australian environmental philosopher whose main work has been in the areas of ecological metaphysics and panpsychism.[1][2][3][4][5] Her current special interests are in ecological civilization; indigenous (Australian and Chinese) perspectives on "sustainability" and how these perspectives may be adapted to the context of contemporary global society; panpsychism and critique of the metaphysics of modernity; and wildlife ethics and rewilding in the context of the Anthropocene.[6][7]

Freya Mathews in 2018

Mathews has been teaching in Australian universities since 1979.[8] She currently holds the post of Adjunct Professor of Environmental Philosophy at La Trobe University. Mathews is the author of several books and over seventy articles on ecological philosophy, metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and politics.[8] In addition to her research activities she manages a private biodiversity reserve in northern Victoria, Australia.[9] She is a fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.[10]

Works

Mathews's philosophy features a holistic approach to environmental ethics with a metaphysical basis. Particularly, she draws from Baruch Spinoza's notion of "ethic of interconnectedness", which treats the features of the natural world as attributes of the same underlying substance.[11] Her advocacy of ontopoetics, which she described as a meaningful communicative exchanges between self and the world, is an aspect to this philosophical view.[12] She also promotes a kind of ecocentrism to address and sustain inconvenient, and time-consuming conservation practice.[13]

Selected publications
  • The Ecological Self, Routledge, London, 1991. Reissued 1993; paperback 1994
  • For Love of Matter: A Contemporary Panpsychism, SUNY Press, Albany, 2003
  • Journey to the Source of the Merri, Ginninderra Press, Canberra, 2003
  • Reinhabiting Reality: Towards a Recovery of Culture, SUNY Press, Albany, 2005
  • Ardea: a Philosophical Novella, Punctum Books, New York, 2016
  • Without Animals Life is not Worth Living, Ginninderra Press, Adelaide, 2016

See also

References
  1. Oppy, Graham; Trakakis, Nick (2014). History of Philosophy in Australia and New Zealand. Melbourne: Monash University Publishing. pp. 233, 568–569.
  2. Oppy, Graham; Trakakis, Nick (2010). A Companion to Philosophy in Australia and New Zealand. Melbourne: Monash University Publishing. pp. 22, 28, 161–164, 241–242, 335.
  3. Brennan, Andrew; Lo, Yeuk-Sze (2015). "Environmental Philosophy". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  4. Skrbina, David. "Panpsychism". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  5. Bonansea, Bernadine; Bruentrup, Godehard (2013). Fastiggi, Robert (ed.). "Panpsychism" (PDF). New Catholic Encyclopedia Supplement 2012-13. Ethics and Philosophy. Detroit: Gale. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  6. "La Trobe University Staff page". Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  7. "Freya Mathews". Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  8. Newman, Julie (2011). Green Ethics and Philosophy: An A-to-Z Guide. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. p. 317. ISBN 978-1-4129-9687-7.
  9. "The Academy Fellows". Australian Academy of the Humanities. Archived from the original on 7 August 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  10. "The Academy Fellows". Australian Academy of the Humanities. Archived from the original on 7 August 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  11. Canfield, John (2012). Philosophy of Meaning, Knowledge and Value in the Twentieth Century: Routledge History of Philosophy Volume 10. Oxon: Routledge. p. 258. ISBN 978-1-134-93573-4.
  12. Iovino, Serenella; Oppermann, Serpil (2014). Material Ecocriticism. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. p. 285. ISBN 978-0-253-01395-8.
  13. Mathews, Freya (2017). Ecology and Democracy. London: Frank Cass & Co. Ltd. p. 100. ISBN 0714642525.

Further reading
External links
Books
  • B. Baxter, Ecologism: An Introduction (Georgetown University Press, 2000), pp 16–33, 58-79.
  • E. De Jong, Spinoza and Deep Ecology: Challenging Traditional Approaches to Environmentalism (Ashgate Publishing, 2004), Ch. 3.
  • J. Franklin, Corrupting the Youth: A History of Philosophy in Australia (Macleay Press, 2003), ch. 13.
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