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Instructor: Christine Syponowich

Topic: G.A. Cohen: Liberty, Justice and Equality

G.A. Cohen (1941-2009) was a remarkable philosopher who produced writings of rigour and insight on some of the most fundamental ideas of political theory: liberty, justice, and equality. Moreover, owing to his engagement with both Marxist and liberal traditions, and even a foray into conservatism, his intellectual career was unusually wide-ranging. An outstanding scholar and an exemplary teacher, Cohen enjoyed an exceptional international reputation for his particular brand of rigorous socialist political philosophy. Throughout his work, Cohen trenchantly argued that fundamental ideals at the centre of the most influential political theories – liberty for Nozick, egalitarian justice for Rawls – were destined to remain unrealized given those theories’ commitment to private property and the market. In response, he articulated the constituents of a radical alternative that reinvigorated the socialist ideal. In all these contributions, Cohen was able to impart to radical politics an uncustomary analytical precision and intellectual acuity. Moreover, Cohen was unique in the extent to which his personality and personal history shaped his philosophical contribution. Who could not be intrigued by the story of growing up in a Jewish Communist community in working class Montreal, and then finding dazzling success on the British philosophical scene, as a graduate student, a lecturer and then Reader at University College London, and finally as the holder of a prestigious chair in Oxford? Moreover, Cohen was a warm and generous person, with an irrepressible sense of fun and mischief, humanity and kindness, evidence of which peppers his otherwise often austere analytical prose.

This course examines Cohen’s corpus, reading key works from throughout his career, and a recently published book about Cohen published by the instructor.