Biography

Joshua Cohen is a political theorist, trained in philosophy, with a special interest in issues that lie at the intersection of democratic norms and institutions. He has written extensively on issues of democratic theory, particularly deliberative democracy and its implications for personal liberty, freedom of expression, and campaign finance. Currently, Professor Cohen is concentrating his scholarship on issues of global justice, including the foundations of human rights, distributive fairness, and supranational democratic governance. He is also a professor in Stanford's Departments of Political Science and Philosophy, and serves as co-editor of Boston Review, a bimonthly magazine of political, cultural, and literary ideas. Professor Cohen comes to Stanford from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty where he has served as a professor of Philosophy and Political Science, and as chair of both departments.

Professor Cohen holds a joint appointment with the Stanford Department of Political Science and Philosophy Department.

Key Works

• Joshua Cohen and Charles Sabel, Extra Rempublicam Nulla Justitia?, 34 Philosophy and Public Affairs 147 (2006).
• Joshua Cohen, Minimalism About Human Rights: the Best We Can Hope For?, 12 Journal of Political Philosophy 190 (2004). Reprinted in Theories of Rights, Ten Chin Liew, editor, Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2006.
• Joshua Cohen, The Arc of the Moral Universe, 26 Philosophy and Public Affairs 91 (1997). Reprinted in Subjugation and Bondage: Critical Essays on Slavery and Social Philosophy, Tommy L. Lott, editor, Lanham, MD : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1998.
• Joshua Cohen, Procedure and Substance in Deliberative Democracy, in Democracy and Difference: Contesting the Boundaries of the Political, Seyla Benhabib, editor, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1996. Reprinted in Deliberative Democracy: Essays on Reason and Politics, James Bohman and William Rehg, editors, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1997; Philosophy and Democracy: an Anthology, Thomas Christiano, editor, New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2003; Reprinted as Procedimiento y Sustancia en la Democracia Deliberativa 4 Metapolitica 24 (2000).
• Joshua Cohen, Deliberation and Democratic Legitimacy, in The Good Polity: Normative Analysis of the State, Alan Hamlin and Phillip Petit, editors, New York: Blackwell, 1989. Reprinted in Contemporary Political Philosophy: an Anthology, Robert E. Goodin and Philip Pettit, editors, Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2006. Reprinted in Deliberative Democracy: Essays on Reason and Politics, James Bohman and William Rehg, editors, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1997. Reprinted in Democracy, David Estlund, editor, Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2002.
• Joshua Cohen and Joel Rogers, On Democracy, New York : Penguin Books, 1983.

In the News

• Stanford Awards $1 Million To Research Teams
  Palo Alto Online, March 12, 2008
• Most Cited Law Professors by Specialty, 2000-2007
  Brian Leiter's Law School Rankings, November 12, 2007

Courses & Programs

Courses

• Luck, Law, and Morality

Publications & Cases

• Joshua Cohen and Charles Sabel, Extra Rempublicam Nulla Justitia?, 34 Philosophy and Public Affairs 147 (2006).
• Joshua Cohen, Minimalism About Human Rights: the Best We Can Hope For?, 12 Journal of Political Philosophy 190 (2004). Reprinted in Theories of Rights, Ten Chin Liew, editor, Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2006.
• Joshua Cohen, The Arc of the Moral Universe, 26 Philosophy and Public Affairs 91 (1997). Reprinted in Subjugation and Bondage: Critical Essays on Slavery and Social Philosophy, Tommy L. Lott, editor, Lanham, MD : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1998.
• Joshua Cohen, Procedure and Substance in Deliberative Democracy, in Democracy and Difference: Contesting the Boundaries of the Political, Seyla Benhabib, editor, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1996. Reprinted in Deliberative Democracy: Essays on Reason and Politics, James Bohman and William Rehg, editors, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1997; Philosophy and Democracy: an Anthology, Thomas Christiano, editor, New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2003; Reprinted as Procedimiento y Sustancia en la Democracia Deliberativa 4 Metapolitica 24 (2000).
• Joshua Cohen, Deliberation and Democratic Legitimacy, in The Good Polity: Normative Analysis of the State, Alan Hamlin and Phillip Petit, editors, New York: Blackwell, 1989. Reprinted in Contemporary Political Philosophy: an Anthology, Robert E. Goodin and Philip Pettit, editors, Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2006. Reprinted in Deliberative Democracy: Essays on Reason and Politics, James Bohman and William Rehg, editors, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1997. Reprinted in Democracy, David Estlund, editor, Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2002.
• Joshua Cohen and Joel Rogers, On Democracy, New York : Penguin Books, 1983.

Affiliations & Honors

Professional Affiliations

• Editor, Boston Review
• President, Boston Critic, Inc.