Abbott, Mathew Dr
Position: Senior Lecturer
Discipline: Humanities and Social Sciences
Location: Mt Helen Campus, H Building, Room 214
Phone: 5327 6331
Email: m.abbott@federation.edu.au
Qualifications
Doctor of Philosophy - University of Sydney- 2012
Bachelor of Arts - Australian National University - 2005
Teaching
Course
- Bachelor of Arts
Units
- Applied Ethics in Contemporary Societies (BAXDC 2004/3004)
- Foundations of Knowledge (FEAFN 1101)
- Advanced Theory for Honours Students (BAHRS 4033)
Biography
Mathew completed his PhD in philosophy at Sydney in 2012, and graduated from ANU with First Class Honours, the Quentin Gibson Prize for Philosophy, and the University Medal. He took up his current position in 2012, after teaching philosophy, film, politics, and poetry at the University of Sydney, the Australian National University, and the University of Canberra.
Mathew has been invited to speak and participated in conferences and seminars around the world, including at the University of Oxford, London’s Whitechapel Gallery, the Pratt Institute, McGill University, the University of Amsterdam, Lancaster University, the University of Essex, the University of Münster, Karlsruhe’s Centre for Art and Media, the University of Malta, the University of Porto, Lucca’s Palazzo Bernadini, Universidad Diego Portales, the University of Auckland, the National Film and Sound Archive, and the National Gallery of Australia.
Mathew spent the second half of 2018 on research leave in Germany, where he joined the Research Center for Analytic German Idealism at the University of Leipzig as Visiting Senior Research Fellow. His research has been translated into Italian and Persian.
Areas of expertise
Drawing on figures from modern European philosophy, Mathew’s research is concerned with issues in aesthetics, political philosophy, and moral philosophy. He is the author of The Figure of This World: Agamben and the Question of Political Ontology (Edinburgh University Press). It defends an interpretation of Agamben’s thought as post-Heideggerian political ontology, connecting it to the work of Stanley Cavell, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Emmanuel Levinas, Walter Benjamin, and Friedrich Nietzsche. In 2016 he published Abbas Kiarostami and Film Philosophy (Edinburgh). The book crosses the divide between analytic and continental philosophy, drawing on figures such as Heidegger and Agamben alongside John McDowell, Alice Crary, Noël Carroll, and Stephen Mulhall. In 2018 published Michael Fried and Philosophy: Modernism, Intention, and Theatricality, an edited collection on the philosophical significance of Michael Fried’s art history and criticism (Routledge). Mathew has a monograph in progress on naturalism, self-consciousness, and ecology.
Research interests
- Aesthetics
- Political and moral philosophy
- Modernism
- Philosophical anthropology
Supervision
Currently supervising HDR students in:
- Literary aesthetics
- Human rights and ideal theory in political philosophy
- The philosophy of technology and events
- Feminism and contemporary science fiction
- Heidegger and virtual reality technology
PhD completions
- Richard Hammond – “Misogynology and the Impossibility of Dwelling”
- Cassie Pedersen – “The Immanence of Traumatic Rupture: From the Extra/Ordinary to the Originary”
Publications
Books
Abbas Kiarostami and Film-Philosophy (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2016)
The Figure of This World: Agamben and the Question of Political Ontology (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2014)
Edited collections
Michael Fried and Philosophy: Modernism, Intention, and Theatricality (New York and London: Routledge, 2018)
Book chapters
“On Film in Reality: Cavellian Reflections on Skepticism, Belief, and Documentary,” in The Thought of Stanley Cavell and Cinema: Turning Anew to the Ontology of Film a Half-Century after The World Viewed, ed. David Larocca (London: Bloomsbury, 2020), 228 - 244
“Philosophy and Lyric Poetry,” in Palgrave Handbook of Philosophy and Literature, ed. Barry Stocker and Michael Mack (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019), 221 - 239
“Modernism and the Discovery of Finitude” in Michael Fried and Philosophy: Modernism, Intention, and Theatricality, ed. Mathew Abbott (New York and London: Routledge, 2018), 18 - 32
“Michael Fried and Philosophy,” in Michael Fried and Philosophy: Modernism, Intention, and Theatricality, ed. Mathew Abbott (New York and London: Routledge, 2018), 1 - 17
“Agamben and Heidegger,” in Agamben’s Philosophical Lineage, ed. Adam Kotsko and Carlo Salzani (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2017), 63 - 75
“Glory, Spectacle, and Inoperativity: Agamben’s Praxis of Theoria,” in Agamben and Radical Politics, ed. Daniel McLoughlin (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2016), 27 - 48
"The Myth of the Earth: Heidegger, Poetry, Politics," in Literature and Politics: Pushing the World in Certain Directions, ed. Peter Marks (Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing), 2012, 84 - 94
Entries on "Human," "Open," "Appropriation," "Transmission," and "Facticity" in The Agamben Dictionary, eds. Alex Murray and Jess Whyte (Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh Press), 2011
Refereed journal articles
“Recognizing Human Action,” Nonsite (32: 2020)
“Grey Gardens and the Problem of Objectivity: Notes on the Ethics of Observational Documentary,” Projections: The Journal for Movies and Mind (13: 2, 2019), 108 - 122
“The Look of Silence and the Problem of Monstrosity,” Film-Philosophy (21: 3, 2017), 392 - 409
“The Problem of Wild Minds: Knowing Animals in Grizzly Man and Ming of Harlem,” SubStance: A Review of Theory and Literary Criticism (45: 3, 2016)
"The Appearance of Appearance: Absolute Truth in Abbas Kiarostami's ABC Africa," Senses of Cinema (67, 2013)
"Kiarostami's Picture Theory: Cinematic Skepticism in The Wind Will Carry Us," SubStance: A Review of Theory and Literary Criticism (42:1, 2013), 165 – 179
"No Life is Bare, the Ordinary is Exceptional: Giorgio Agamben and the Question of Political Ontology," Parrhesia (14, 2012), 23 – 36
"The Animal for which Animality is an Issue: Nietzsche, Agamben, and the Anthropological Machine," Angelaki: Journal of the Theoretical Humanities (16: 4, 2011), 87 – 99
"On Not Loving Everyone: Comments on Jean-Luc Nancy's "L'amour en ??clats [Shattered Love]," Glossator: Practice and Theory of the Commentary (5, 2011), 139 – 162
"The Poetic Experience of the World," International Journal of Philosophical Studies (18: 14, 2010), 493 – 516
"The Creature Before the Law: Notes on Walter Benjamin's "Critique of Violence,"" Colloquy: Text, Theory, Critique (16, 2008), 81 – 9
Seminar presentations
“Marx’s Naturalism: On Self-Conscious Species Knowledge,” Historical Materialism conference, Trades Hall Melbourne, 07/12/2019
“The Vulnerability of Self-Conscious Animals: On Hegel’s Amphibians and Géricault’s Horses,” Australasian Society for Continental Philosophy conference, University of Melbourne, 05/12/2019
“Natural Norms, Spiritual Freedom, and Self-Conscious Species Knowledge,” panel on Martin Hägglund’s This Life with Conall Cash at Australasian Society for Continental Philosophy conference, University of Melbourne, 04/12/2019
“Hegel’s Amphibians and Géricault’s Horses: Animal Vulnerability in Self-Conscious Life,” Continental Philosophy Seminar Series, Flinders University, Adelaide, 17/05/2019
“The Philosophy of Art and Evolution: Reflections on the Role of Rationality in Our Aesthetic Lives,” Cultural Enquiry Research Group Seminar, Federation University Australia, Ballarat, 02/05/2019
“Aesthetic Display in Human and Animal Life,” Federation University Australia Philosophy Symposium, 18/02/2019
“Art, Evolution, and the Issue of the Display: Toward a Problematic Naturalism,” Naturalism and Sociality: Conference of the Australian Hegel Society, University of New South Wales, Sydney, 14/02/2019
“Art, Evolution, and Rational Self-Consciousness,” Engaging the Contemporary 2018: Reconfiguring the Aesthetic, University of Malta, Valletta, 01/11/2018
“Vicissitudes of Conviction: Stanley Cavell and Michael Fried on Scepticism, Theatricality, and Reality,” European Network for Avant-Garde and Modernism Studies conference, University of Münster, 05/09/2018
“Peacock Tails, Human Art, and the Issue of Display,” Society for European Philosophy conference, Essex University, 18/06/2018
“Display in Human Art and the Aesthetic Lives of Animals,” Theatricality and the Arts, Whitechapel Gallery, London, 12/06/2018
“Grey Gardens, Performativity, and the Problem of Reality,” Moving Image and Philosophy conference, University of Porto, 08/07/2017
“Authenticity and Performativity in Grey Gardens: Notes on the Ethics of Observational Documentary,” Film-Philosophy conference, Lancaster University, 05/07/2017
“Authenticity and Objectivity in Grey Gardens,” Cinematic Ethics workshop, Macquarie University, 19/05/2017
“The Look of Silence and the Problem of Monstrosity,” Cinematic Ethics workshop, Macquarie University, 16/12/2016
Respondent to panel discussion on Abbas Kiarostami and Film-Philosophy at Australasian Society for Continental Philosophy conference, Deakin University, 09/12/2016
“Poetic Thought,” Australasian Society for Continental Philosophy conference, Deakin University, 08/12/2016
“Two Crises of Beholding: Authenticity and Identity in Michael Fried’s Art History,” The Fifth Euroacademia Global Forum of Critical Studies, Lucca, 12/11/2016
“Against Moral Blindness: The Look of Silence and the Problem of Monstrosity,” Real of Reality conference, Centre for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, 05/11/2016
““The Deep Need for Convention”: Beholding and Judgment in Michael Fried’s Modernism,” Australasian Society for Continental Philosophy conference, University of New South Wales, 04/12/2015
“Absorption and Spectatorship in Kiarostami’s Shirin,” Cinematic Ethics Symposium at Macquarie University, 29/08/2015
“Abbas Kiarostami and Film-Philosophy: Scepticism, Evaluation, and Philosophically Inflected Criticism,” Film-Philosophy conference, University of Oxford, 22/07/2015
“Modernism and Absorption in Kiarostami’s Shirin: Michael Fried and Film-Philosophy,” Australian Modernism Studies Network conference, University of Sydney, 17/12/2014
Respondent to panel discussion on The Figure of This World: Agamben and the Question of Political Ontology Australasian Society for Continental Philosophy conference, Australian Catholic University, 04/12/2014
“Glory, Spectacle, and Inoperativity: Theoria as Praxis in Agambenian Political Ontology,” Australasian Society for Continental Philosophy conference, Australian Catholic University, 05/12/2014
“The Realism of Artifice: On Kiarostami’s Five,” Cinema’s Realisms: Cinematic Thinking Workshop, University of New South Wales, 14/11/2014
“Abbas Kiarostami and Film-Philosophy,” seminar presentation at the Centre for Modernism Studies, UNSW, 19/08/2014
“Artifice, Contemplation, and Cinematic Scepticism: On Kiarostami’s Five,” Peter Herbst Seminar Series, ANU, 20/07/2014
"The Moral Claims of Kiarostami," University of Ballarat Philosophy Symposium, 13/12/2013
"Ethics, Qualia, and Knowledge: On Kiarostami's Ten," Cinema and/as Ethics: Cinematic Thinking Workshop, 09/12/2013
"Cinematic Scepticism: Abbas Kiarostami and Film-Philosophy," Australasian Society for Continental Philosophy conference, University of Western Sydney, 03/12/2013
"Agamben and Spectacle," Agamben and Government workshop, University of New South Wales, 02/12/2013
"Remarriage Comedy, Genre, and Authenticity: On Kiarostami's Certified Copy," Thinking through Genre: The Pratt Cinematic Thinking Workshop, Pratt Institute Brooklyn, 03/11/13
"The Comedy of Remarriage in the Age of Technical Reproducibility: Notes on Kiarostami's Certified Copy," seminar series of the Cultural Enquiry Research Group, University of Ballarat, 02/09/2013
"Cinematic Scepticism: Kiarostami, Nancy, and the Suspension of Belief," presented as part of "Cinema's Suspensions: Nancy and Kiarostami," panel with Hamish Ford and Christian Ferencz-Flatz taking place at the Film-Philosophy conference at the University of Amsterdam, 10/07/2013
"The Head Awake in the Heart," Apoetic: Festival of Innovative Australian Poetry, Sydney, 29/06/2013
"Ordinary Happiness: Wittgenstein and Agamben," Australasian Society for Continental Philosophy conference, University of Auckland, 10/12/2012
"Everything there is to Know: Absolute Truth in Abbas Kiarostami's ABC Africa," presented as part of "The Evidence of Documentary: Representation, Visibility, and Justice," a panel with Robert Sinnerbrink and Mark Westmoreland taking place at the Visible Evidence international documentary conference in Canberra, 22/12/2012
"New Quarrels: Innovative Poetry and the Philosophical Horizon," presented as part of "New Quarrel," a panel with Michael Farrell, Astrid Lorange, Toby Fitch, and Tom Lee taking place as part of Critical Animals at Newcastle's This is Not Art festival, 30/09/2012
"The Pitiful Exegetes of Ourselves: On Not Putting Theory into Practice," presented as part of the "Blind Date: When Theory Meets Practice" panel taking place as part of Critical Animals at Newcastle's This is Not Art festival, 28/09/2012
"No Life is Bare: Notes on Giorgio Agamben's Political Ontology," Sovereignty Stream, Australasian Society for Continental Philosophy conference, La Trobe University, Melbourne, 12/12/2011
"Kiarostami's Picture Theory: Cinematic Scepticism in The Wind Will Carry Us," Cinematic Thinking Workshop, University of New South Wales, 05/12/2011
"What is Political Ontology?" Panel on Political Ontology, annual meeting of the Society for Social and Political Philosophy, McGill University, Montreal (event taking place as part of the wider Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy conference), 20/11/2010
"A Phenomenology of Poetry," Australasian Society for Continental Philosophy conference, Monash University, 30/11/2009
"Nietzsche, Biopolitics, and the Enigma of Animal Life," Nietzsche and the Becoming of Life, Universidad Diego Portales, Santiago, 04/11/2009
"The Animal for which Animality is an Issue," Limits of the Human, Australian National University, 02/09/2009
"The Myth of the Earth: Heidegger, Politics, and Poetry," Australasian Association for Literature conference, University of Sydney, 05/07/2009
"On Poetic Experience," Literature, Film, Gender and New Media Seminar Series, Australian National University, 19/03/2009
"Walter Benjamin's Political Theology," New Horizons in Political Philosophy, University of Canberra, 28/11/2008
"The Picture and its Captives: Wittgenstein and the Tasks of Philosophy," Analytic Versus Continental: A Rapprochement? Melbourne School of Continental Philosophy, 11/07/2008
"The Creature Before the Law: Notes on Walter Benjamin's "Critique of Violence,"" Australasian Association for Philosophy conference, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, 07/07/2008
"The Unity of Thought and Politics in Giorgio Agamben's Philosophy," New Horizons in Political Philosophy, ANU, 07/12/2007
"Language, Death, and Polis," Death and Beyond, University of Amsterdam, 02/11/2007
"The Ethics of Absolute Singularity: a Response to Kevin Hart," Philosophy of Religion Research Seminar, University of Sydney, 13/07/2007
Associations
- Australasian Society for Continental Philosophy
- Society for European Philosophy
- Cinematic Thinking Network
- Biopolitica
- Australian Modernism Studies Network
- European Network for Avant-Garde and Modernism Studies