Mathews has been teaching in Australian universities since 1979.[8] She currently holds the post of Adjunct Professor of Environmental Philosophy atLa Trobe University. Mathews is the author of several books and over seventy articles on ecological philosophy,metaphysics,epistemology,ethics, andpolitics.[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.[9]
Mathews's philosophy features a holistic approach toenvironmental ethics with a metaphysical basis. Particularly, she draws fromBaruch Spinoza's notion of "ethic of interconnectedness", which treats the features of the natural world as attributes of the same underlying substance.[10] Her advocacy ofontopoetics, which she described as meaningful communicative exchanges between self and the world, is an aspect to this philosophical view.[11] She also promotes a kind of ecocentrism to address and sustain inconvenient, and time-consuming conservation practice.[12]
^Oppy, Graham; Trakakis, Nick (2014).History of Philosophy in Australia and New Zealand. Melbourne: Monash University Publishing. pp. 233,568–569.
^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.
^Brennan, Andrew; Lo, Yeuk-Sze (2015)."Environmental Philosophy".Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved20 January 2016.
^Skrbina, David."Panpsychism".Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved20 January 2016.
^Bonansea, Bernadine; Bruentrup, Godehard (2013). Fastiggi, Robert (ed.)."Panpsychism"(PDF).New Catholic Encyclopedia Supplement 2012-13. Ethics and Philosophy. Detroit: Gale. Retrieved20 January 2016.
^Canfield, John (2012).Philosophy of Meaning, Knowledge and Value in the Twentieth Century: Routledge History of Philosophy Volume 10. Oxon: Routledge. p. 258.ISBN978-1-134-93573-4.
^Iovino, Serenella; Oppermann, Serpil (2014).Material Ecocriticism. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. p. 285.ISBN978-0-253-01395-8.
^Mathews, Freya (2017).Ecology and Democracy. London: Frank Cass & Co. Ltd. p. 100.ISBN978-0714642529.
