Academic

Gerald Cohen: 1941 ? 5 August 2009

By Lawrence Solum

I am saddened to report that Gerald (Jerry) has passed away.  Here is a brief excerpt from the Wikipedia entry:

Gerald Allan "Jerry" Cohen (1941 ? 5 August 2009) was a Marxist political philosopher, formerly the Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory, All Souls College, Oxford. Born into a communist Jewish family in Montreal, Cohen was educated at McGill University, Canada (BA, philosophy and political science) and the University of Oxford (BPhil, philosophy) where he studied under Isaiah Berlin and Gilbert Ryle. Cohen was formerly assistant lecturer (1963-1964), lecturer (1964-1979) then reader (1979-1984) in the Department of Philosophy at University College London, before being appointed to the Chichele chair at Oxford in 1985. Several of his former students, such as Alan Carter, Will Kymlicka, John McMurtry, Michael Otsuka, Seana Shiffrin and Jonathan Wolff have gone on to be important political philosophers in their own right.

Known as a proponent of Analytical Marxism and a founding member of the September Group, Cohen's 1978 work Karl Marx's Theory of History: A Defence defends an old-fashioned interpretation of Marx's historical materialism often referred to as 'economic determinism' or 'technological determinism' by its critics. In Self-Ownership, Freedom, and Equality, Cohen offers an extensive moral argument in favour of socialism, contrasting his views with those of John Rawls and Robert Nozick, by articulating an extensive critique of the Lockean principle of self-ownership as well as the use of that principle to defend right ?as opposed to left? libertarianism. In If You're an Egalitarian, How Come You're So Rich? (which covers the topic of his Gifford Lectures) Cohen addresses the question of what egalitarian political principles imply for the personal behavior of those who subscribe to them.

Cohen was one of the greats in political philosophy.  I met him on only a few occasions & read almost of his work, from which I learned much.  His books include:

* Karl Marx's Theory of History: A Defense (1978, 2000)
* History, Labour, and Freedom (1988)
* Self-Ownership, Freedom, and Equality (1995)
* If You're an Egalitarian, How Come You're So Rich? (2000)
* Rescuing Justice and Equality (2008)

In my opinion, "Karl Marx's Theory of HIstory" is a very great book, and it is essential reading for anyone interested in social theory.  "Rescuing Justice and Equality" is a very important work of political philosophy, containing one of the most important alternatives to Rawls.

And here is a link to his valedictory lecture--which is very moving!

Full post as published by Legal Theory Blog on August 05, 2009 (boomark / email).