Philosophy, Politics, Democracy
Selected Essays
BR co-editor Joshua Cohen’s Philosophy, Politics, Democracy collects his writings on some of the most controvertial issues facing the American public: campaign finance, privacy rights, hate speech and more.
“Joshua Cohen is the leading political philosopher of deep democracy of his generation. This book is profound, subtle, and relevant. We need his wise and powerful voice in this age of Obama.”—Cornel West, Princeton University
“Joshua Cohen’s Philosophy, Politics, Democracy is a major contribution to all three. With arguments that have long been at the cutting edge of political philosophy, Cohen develops a distinctive conception of democracy as based upon reason-giving among equals, and he does so in a way that never ignores political reality. Daily political discourse, Cohen argues, contains conceptions of the social world that border on philosophical thought. Good philosophical argument develops those conceptions more rigorously and generally, and then returns to the world of politics to show how the conception might be realized there. All too often, Cohen observes, we respond to political ideals with "a knowing irony of the intellect and a lassitude of the heart." Realistic without cynicism, idealistic without naïveté, Cohen's book responds to the real world with rigorous intellectual aspiration and undaunted practical hope.”—Martha C. Nussbaum, The University of Chicago
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About the Author
Joshua Cohen is Marta Sutton Weeks Professor of Ethics in Society at Stanford University and co-editor of Boston Review.
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BR Footnote:
Boston Review’s intern blog