For the Fall Newsletter of the Department of Philosophy here at 国产伦理, Prof. David Pereplyotchik sat down with the newest faculty member of our department, Prof. Matthew Coate, to find out a little more about him.
DP: Thank you for joining us on this fine morning, Dr. Coate. Let's start by talking about your background and your role here at 国产伦理 in the Philosophy Department.
MC: Well, I鈥檓 an assistant professor here in the Department of Philosophy, but before I began this position I served as a Visiting Assistant Professor in the department, during the 2022-2023 academic year, and then near the conclusion of that appointment I was offered my current, permanent position, which began in 2023. So this is now the beginning鈥攚ell, we鈥檙e a little past the beginning now, but the first semester at least鈥攐f my third year at 国产伦理 as an Assistant Professor of Philosophy. I came from Cleveland, though, and actually earned my BA, in both Philosophy and Art History, here at KSU, so I have a pretty long history in the department in various roles, which has been more rewarding than I can say.
DP: And we are very happy to have you here now as our newest full-time faculty member. So what is your specialization in your teaching and research? What kind of stuff do you get into in the field of philosophy?
MC: My major areas of interest are all connected with my background in 19th-21st century continental European philosophy, particularly German and French thought. More than anything, I'm interested in understanding the subject or person, and I approach this using the phenomenological method of analysis developed by Edmund Husserl at the start of the 20th century and often build upon the analyses of the major phenomenologists, and also, major existentialist thinkers. I do work in a wide range of fields too, such as ethics, social and political philosophy, and aesthetics, but I take all of this work to be tied to my investigations of the person and attempt to connect to this theme in all my research.
DP: Thanks! Students who are interested in these topics should definitely check out some courses with Dr. Coate. Can you tell us a little about your most recent research?
MC: Sure! I鈥檓 co-editing an edited volume right now with Prof Gina Zavota in our department on new frontiers in Husserlian philosophy, but my own research has been on plethora of topics, as I just indicated. My most recent publication, a chapter in a book titled Phenomenology & Posthumanism(s), argued that posthumanist accounts logically imply an anti-vegetarian position and that vegetarian advocacy is far more consistent with new humanist accounts of our subjectivity, like Emmanuel Levinas鈥檚 work, which places the relation with another, and the moral responsibility that this subjects us to, at the center of our existence as subjects. I鈥檝e also recently published an article about Levinas鈥檚 account of beauty and its complex and, in ways, conflicted relationship to morality, and am exploring this theme more in a lot of my current research.
DP: I wonder if you could tell us now about what you do for fun? When you're not doing philosophy, where might we find you?
MC: Well, I'm not sure that I'm ever not doing philosophy, in all honesty. I mean, philosophy isn鈥檛 just a job for me, but a vocation in the deepest sense of the term, a calling. Since my work ultimately explores questions about the purpose or meaning of our existence, I think that, on the one hand, my philosophical research inspires the way that I live my life and go about this world, but that, on the other hand, my life experiences themselves provide so much of the inspiration for my research and, really, a starting point for my philosophical investigations. Would it be going overboard to say that, for those who commit themselves completely to philosophy, even their everyday dealings are philosophical? But outside of philosophy, in the strict academic sense, I鈥檓 extremely interested in the arts. I used to be a practicing fine artist and at one point was an art student, and although that was ages ago I'm still very much interested in fine art, particularly painting and sculpture. I'm also interested in music, and have recently started to get back into playing and performing it, particularly the guitar, after years of not having touched the instrument. I guess I'd also say that I鈥檓 very much, well, an amateur naturalist; I love going on hikes and spending a lot of time in the parks and natural spaces around here, including the Cleveland Botanical Gardens and Holden Arboretum, where I'm a member.
Recently, too, I鈥檝e gotten into rock climbing! As you of course know David, I'm in a rock climbing group with you; our group largely climbs at the major gyms in Cleveland but we go on outdoor excursions as well, which I find especially enjoyable given the aesthetic enjoyment of being outside, and the opportunity to take a much closer look at some of the rock formations around here than I've ever taken in my life. I find a real life lesson in there too, because when I stand at the bottom of a rocky cliff out on the trails that we鈥檝e climbed at, I鈥檓 just overcome by how gorgeous it all is, which has always been my response, but now I also look up at the top and feel overwhelmed in a different way because I can鈥檛 see for my life how I鈥檓 ever going to surmount this rock; yet when I just take hold of it and start climbing, step by step, and simply enjoy the climb as I go, lo and behold I find that I eventually end up at the top more often than not. So that's been a lot of fun recently as well, but as I said earlier, I also find something philosophical about the activity.
DP: Yes, I enjoy it and feel the same. Thank you for sharing your time with us!
MC: Thank you for your interest.
