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. He serves as co-editor of Boston Review, a bimonthly magazine of political, cultural, and literary ideas. A first volume of his selected papers, Philosophy, Politics, Democracy, will be published in fall 2009 by Harvard University Press; his book Rousseau: A Free Community of Equals will appear in spring 2010 from Oxford University Press.

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.

Courses & Programs

Courses

• Designing Liberation Technologies
• Luck, Law, and Morality

Publications & Cases

Recent Publications View All

• Joshua Cohen and Brink Lindsey, One-Handed Applause, A Dialogue Between Joshua Cohen and Brink Lindsey, Bloggingheads.tv, October 6, 2009.
• Joshua Cohen and Thomas Nadel, Introduction, in A Brief Inquiry into the Meaning of Sin & Faith: with "On My Religion", John Rawls and Thomas Nadel (ed.), Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2009.
• Joshua Cohen and Daniel Drezner, A Liberal Makes a Surprising Case for Preventive Detention,A Dialogue Between Joshua Cohen and Daniel Drezner, Bloggingheads.tv, December 22, 2008.
• Joshua Cohen and Daniel Drezner, Adventures with Student Plagiarism, A Dialogue Between Joshua Cohen and Daniel Drezner, Bloggingheads.tv, December 22, 2008.
• Joshua Cohen and Daniel Drezner, Condi Rice's Fraught Return to Stanford, A Dialogue Between Joshua Cohen and Daniel Drezner, Bloggingheads.tv, December 22, 2008.
• Joshua Cohen and Daniel Drezner, Josh Fears the GOP Will Run a Coded Racist Campaign in 2012, A Dialogue Between Joshua Cohen and Daniel Drezner, Bloggingheads.tv, December 22, 2008.
• Joshua Cohen and Daniel Drezner, Which Movie Best Epitomizes the Bush Era? A Dialogue Between Joshua Cohen and Daniel Drezner, Bloggingheads.tv, December 22, 2008.
• Joshua Cohen and Daniel Drezner, Was Torture an Understandable Result of 9/11? A Dialogue Between Joshua Cohen and Daniel Drezner, Bloggingheads.tv, December 22, 2008.
• 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.

Affiliations & Honors

Professional Affiliations

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