G. A. Cohen was one of the towering political philosophers of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. His intellectual career was unusually wide-ranging, and he was celebrated internationally not only for his penetrating ideas about liberty, justice and equality, but also for his method, a highly original and influential combination of analytical philosophy and Marxism.
Christine Sypnowich guides readers through the rich body of Cohen’s work. By identifying five paradoxes in his thought, she explores the origins of his interest in analytical philosophy, his engagement with the ideas of right-wing libertarianism, his critique of John Rawls’s work, his late-career turn to conservatism, and the tension between his preoccupation with individual responsibility and the idea of a socialist ethos. Sypnowich acknowledges the strengths of Cohen’s positions as well as their tensions and flaws, and presents him as a thinker of startling insight.
This compelling introduction is a go-to resource for students and scholars of modern political philosophy.
Table of Contents
Preface1 The Political is Personal: G. A. Cohen’s Philosophical Journey
2 No-Bullshit Marxism and the Fate of Historical Materialism
3 Rescuing Freedom from Nozick
4 Rescuing Justice from Rawls
5 Taking Responsibility for Egalitarianism
6 Rescuing Existing Value - for or Against Socialism?
7 Conclusion: Paradox and Legacy
Notes
Bibliography
Index
