Intrinsic and universal value in heritage ethics

The contemporary heritage ethics literature often adopts a critical attitude toward the ideas of intrinsic value and universal value . Intrinsic (inherent, innate) value is criticized for ignoring the social dimensions of cultural heritage and fetishizing material heritage; universal value is criticized for facilitating imperialism and colonialism in the management of cultural heritage. While there are important dimensions to these critiques, particularly with respect to how these value concepts have been employed in practice, they also tend to depend on narrow interpretations of the concepts at hand that can obscure their more salutary aspects for heritage ethics. In this chapter, I will draw on philosophical work on intrinsic and universal value to illustrate the important role that these concepts can play in heritage ethics, while remaining wary about their potential pitfalls.