History, Value, and Irreplaceability

Ethics 124 (1):35-64 (2013)
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Abstract

It is often assumed that there is a necessary relationship between historical value and irreplaceability, and that this is an essential feature of historical value’s distinctive character. Contrary to this assumption, I argue that it is a merely contingent fact that some historically valuable things are irreplaceable, and that irreplaceability is not a distinctive feature of historical value at all. Rather, historically significant objects, from heirlooms to artifacts, offer us an otherwise impossible connection with the past, a value that persists even in the face of suitable replacements.

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Erich Hatala Matthes
Wellesley College

Citations of this work

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References found in this work

Love as a moral emotion.J. David Velleman - 1999 - Ethics 109 (2):338-374.
Love as valuing a relationship.Niko Kolodny - 2003 - Philosophical Review 112 (2):135-189.
Rethinking intrinsic value.Shelly Kagan - 1998 - The Journal of Ethics 2 (4):277-297.
Love and death.Dan Moller - 2007 - Journal of Philosophy 104 (6):301-316.
Love De Re.Robert Kraut - 1986 - Midwest Studies in Philosophy 10 (1):413-430.

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