Finding Oneself in the Other

by G.A. Cohen

This is the second of three volumes of posthumously collected writings of G. A. Cohen, who was one of the leading, and most progressive, figures in contemporary political philosophy. This volume brings together some of Cohen's most personal philosophical and nonphilosophical essays, many of them previously unpublished. Rich in first-person narration, insight, and humor, these pieces vividly demonstrate why Thomas Nagel described Cohen as a "wonderful raconteur."


The nonphilosophical highlight of the book is Cohen's remarkable account of his first trip to India, which includes unforgettable vignettes of encounters with strangers and reflections on poverty and begging. Other biographical pieces include his valedictory lecture at Oxford, in which he describes his philosophical development and offers his impressions of other philosophers, and "Isaiah's Marx, and Mine," a tribute to his mentor Isaiah Berlin. Other essays address such topics as the truth in "small-c conservatism," who can and can't condemn terrorists, and the essence of bullshit. A recurring theme is finding completion in relation to the world of other human beings. Engaging, perceptive, and empathetic, these writings reveal a more personal side of one of the most influential philosophers of our time.

Genres: Philosophy, Essays, Nonfiction

272 pages, Paperback

First published October 28, 2012

About the author

Gerald Allan Cohen FBA, known as G. A. Cohen or Jerry Cohen, was a Canadian Marxist political philosopher who held the positions of Quain Professor of Jurisprudence, University College London and Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory, All Souls College, Oxford.

Born into a communist Jewish family in Montreal, Quebec, on 14 April 1941, Cohen was educated at McGill University (BA, philosophy and political science) in his home town and the University of Oxford (BPhil, philosophy) where he studied under Isaiah Berlin and Gilbert Ryle.

Cohen was 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 students, such as Christopher Bertram, Simon Caney, Alan Carter, Cécile Fabre, Will Kymlicka, John McMurtry, David Leopold, Michael Otsuka, Seana Shiffrin, and Jonathan Wolff have gone on to be important moral and political philosophers in their own right, while another, Ricky Gervais, has pursued a successful career in comedy.

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 interpretation of Karl Marx's historical materialism often referred to as 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 well as 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 behaviour of those who subscribe to them.

Cohen was close friends with Marxist political philosopher Marshall Berman.

Cohen died on 5 August 2009.

Reviews

[Sharad Pandian · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a pretty good book with plenty of strong essays, but the standout paper is his "Rescuing Conservatism: A Defense of Existing Value", which should be read in every undergraduate moral philosophy course to ensure people don't get carried away by the currents of analytic tools and consequently ending up completely disconnected from usual moral reasoning.

There's also some personal material which is fascinating and funny and profound, including a long travel diary of two weeks in India, which might very well be the only journal written by a foreigner travelling in India that isn't infuriating and stupid.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

The travelog of India is ok; but the essays on terrorism and who has the right to criticize and morally condemn should be required reading.

[Josh Friedlander · Rating 2 out of 5]

An odd volume (2 of 3) I picked up, a collection of essays, speeches and recollections. Talks about growing up in a doctrinaire Marxist Jewish community in Montreal, discovering philosophy as an undergraduate at McGill before studying at Oxford, where he would end up for the bulk of his career. Memories of Ryle and Isaiah Berlin, along with some humorous imitations (others of which can be found on YouTube. Contains a long and somewhat tedious recollection of a trip to India. But Cohen seems to have been a vivacious and funny person, able to make fun of the somewhat pedantic philosophy he practiced. Some of that is contained here, in essays on conservatism, Harry Frankfurt's idea of "bullshit", and equality. I found it rather dry, taking a long time to make somewhat obvious points (the essay on conservatism, for example, seems basically to argue for a kind of negative capability whereby one can both be in favour of something - say, social change - while acknowledging that in involves giving up something valuable, but less so). A more professional review of these sections can be found here. Cohen was a founding member of the "September Group", who propounded "non-bullshit Marxism", an almost unrecognisable Analytical form of that doctrine: one might say of them that while Marxists have changed the world, their goal was to interpret it.

[Jasmine · Rating 5 out of 5]

lucid, humane, and kind of hilarious???
- he makes me love language and humanity in a way i thought was reserved for poets
- rescuing conservatism and who can cast the first stone are excellent pieces of analytic philosophy
- i put off reading the India travelogue as someone who doesn’t care for travel writing, but this was beautiful and poignant and turned out to be my favourite of all the essays
- the essay on bullshit was slightly overlaboured but still the work of an excellent thinker

[Sina Mousavi · Rating 5 out of 5]

[...] Lack of freedom of speech cuts everyone off from the truth. If all you’ve got is Rudé právo, and you know it lies, you cannot really know what’s happening in the world around you, and you know your information is controlled by liars, even if you have no wish to express anything yourself. Freedom of speech is imperative not only because no human being has the right to silence another, but also because human beings have not only a right to express themselves but a right of access to the views of others, and to the truth, rights which go beyond the right not to be unjustifiably interfered with (which includes a right to freedom of expression), rights which are more positive, but no less urgent for that. In the absence of freedom of speech, not only are those who would otherwise speak muzzled, but everybody lives in a prison.

So I finally got the best of the procrastinator inside me and finished reading this book. I certainly don't regret the time spent doing that. The essay on "bullshit" and the causes behind its prevalence in certain French circles, along with the one on whether or not one is in the moral position to condemn terrorists are my highlights of the volume,

Jerry Cohen might very well be my favourite philosopher ever. His analytical rigour and clarity aside, I can't but admire his kindness, sense of humour and deep concern with human suffering. I find it extremely sad that it took me so long to know about him and discover his work, and that he is no longer alive.

[Luke McCarthy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Labelling this as 'finished' even though I didn't actually finish Cohen's travel diary section (I'm sorry, it's pithy and well-written but I just couldn't bring myself to care!). Stand-out essay here is Cohen's take on a kind of 'leftist conservatism'. Cohen claims he is a conservative not in the sense that he wants to conserve the status quo (he is a socialist after all), rather, he believes that some things which have value – regardless of how much 'objective' value they have – should be conserved: an argument against technocratic, utilitarian productivism. The other essays range from great to relatively tedious (the essay which touches on Israel and Palestine was, I think, admirable for it's time, but now reads a little tepid). The final passages, of Cohen reflecting on his academic life, and his life in general, were very touching and actually brought me close to tears. Overall not an essential read, but worthwhile if you enjoy Cohen's writing.