Gareth Matthews
Gareth B. Matthews (born July 9, 1929 in Buenos Aires , † April 17, 2011 in Boston ) was an American philosopher specializing in ancient philosophy and philosophy with children .
Life
Gareth Matthews was born on July 8, 1929 in Buenos Aires. He grew up near Memphis, Tennessee. As a boy scout, he earned the rank of Eagle Scout. Matthews later moved to Franklin, Indiana with his family. He went to Franklin College, Indiana to get his BA. Matthews later began his master's thesis at Harvard University , which he completed in 1952. He then spent a year as a Rotary Fellow at the Free University of Berlin .
Matthews served as an intelligence officer in the US Navy during the Cold War . He later served in the reserve and as a retired lieutenant.
Matthews received his doctorate from Harvard University in 1961. He later held teaching positions at the University of Virginia (1960-1961), the University of Minnesota (1961-1969) and the University of Massachusetts Amherst (1969-2005).
Matthews first established himself with a series of works on Aristotle . He also wrote a number of scientific articles on Augustine the Hippo . His later work on philosophy with children was translated into many languages including Chinese, Japanese and Indonesian, as well as various European languages.
Matthews regularly taught undergraduate and graduate courses at UMass Amherst in the subjects of Ancient Philosophy , Medieval Philosophy , Existentialism , Applied Ethics, and various subjects in metaphysics . He led reading groups for students in the works of Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations and Heidegger's Being and Time .
Matthews has been visiting professor at Amherst College , Brown University , Mount Holyoke College , Smith College, and Harvard Summer School . He was a member of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton and led four summer seminars sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities . He was twice awarded the National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship.
Matthews has lectured regularly in the US and abroad and has held philosophical discussions with elementary school children in Austria, Australia, China, Israel, Germany, Japan, Norway and Scotland as well as in various schools in the US.
Before his death, he lived in Amherst , Massachusetts, Massachusetts with his wife, Mary, for many years . Matthews died of colon cancer on April 17, 2011 in Boston, Massachusetts.
Works
- Philosophical conversations with children. Freese, Berlin 1989, ISBN 3-88942-008-7 .
- The philosophy of childhood. Quadriga, Berlin, 1995, ISBN 3886798178 .
- Thinking with Children: From the Practice of Children's Philosophy in Elementary School. Klinkhardt, Julius, 1999, ISBN 3781510603 .
- Playing with philosophy: a philosophical internship. Freese, 1992, ISBN 3889420141 .
- Thinking tests: Philosophical ideas of younger children. Freese, 1991, ISBN 3889420125 .
- Augustine (Blackwell, 2005)
- Augustine: On the Trinity - Books 8-15 , ed. (Cambridge, 2002)
- Socratic Perplexity and the Nature of Philosophy (Oxford, 1999)
- The Philosophy of Childhood (Harvard, 1994)
- Dialogues with Children (Harvard, 1984)
- Philosophy and the Young Child (Harvard, 1980)
Web links
- Gareth B. Matthews at University of Massachusetts Amherst Amherst
- Interview with Gareth Matthews , Children and Youth Philosophers, Norway
Individual evidence
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Matthews, Gareth |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Matthews, Gareth B. |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American philosopher |
DATE OF BIRTH | July 8, 1929 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Buenos Aires , Argentina |
DATE OF DEATH | April 17, 2011 |
Place of death | Boston , Massachusetts , United States |