On the ethics of cultural heritage conservation

Abstract

In 2003, Salvador Muñoz Viñas published 'Teoría contemporánea de la Restauración'. Two years later, he wrote 'Contemporary Theory of Conservation', a different, revised version of the first work. In these books, the philosophy of conservation was analyzed, and, building from different authors and sources, an alternative approach was outlined. Since 2005, the author has continued working on this topic, revising the ideas presented in these books, and developing new ones. Many of these ideas were presented in papers or in lectures. 'On the Ethics of Cultural Heritage Conservation' gathers together fifteen of the author's papers and lectures presented since 2009. Although individually they were not conceived as part of a whole, a coherent line of thinking can be easily detected - the discussion and analysis of the core notions of conservation ethics. In different ways, they all aim to show that the so-called "principles of conservation" are not what they may seem at first sight. The conservation of the cultural heritage is a well-established activity in many societies — an activity that successfully serves its purpose. However, the reflections presented in this volume suggest that the field of conservation might benefit from a different, less traditional interpretation of some of its ethical and theoretical tenets.