Gerald Cohen
Encyclopedia
Gerald Allan "Jerry" Cohen (14 April 1941 – 5 August 2009) was a Marxist
political philosopher
, formerly Visiting 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
, Cohen was educated at McGill University
, Canada (BA, philosophy and political science) and the University of Oxford
(BPhil, philosophy) where he studied under Isaiah Berlin
and Gilbert Ryle
.
Cohen was formerly 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. It was at University College, London that Cohen became the founder of Analytical Marxism
. Several of his former students, such as Alan Carter
, Will Kymlicka
, John McMurtry
, David Leopold, Michael Otsuka
, and Jonathan Wolff have gone on to be important political philosophers in their own right.
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 old-fashioned interpretation of Marx's
historical materialism
often referred to as 'economic determinism
' or '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.
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Cohen's 1978 work is considered a groundbreaking reinterpretation of the Marxist doctrine of historical materialism
. It has introduced historical materialism as a reliable theory to English language social texts. He uses the techniques of modern analytic philosophy
to construct Marx’s theory of history in a language familiar to liberal and “bourgeois” social theory
. The book is sometimes considered to be the first in a school of thought that explores and attempts to reconstruct Marxism using the tools of Anglo-American analytical philosophy and social science, which later came to be known as "Analytical Marxism
".
Cohen’s theory was very orthodox in conclusions but its language, premises and method were not traditionally employed by Marxists. It was congenial to the rigorous tools used in 1970's social science, as well as the logical and linguistic analysis used in contemporary philosophy.
Analytical Marxism is sometimes called "Rational Choice Marxism", although not all of its proponents affirm, or need affirm, a form of rational choice. According to some, RCM means that all economical and political action and theories should be explained by the action of not just any individuals but by the actions of a certain individual capable of choice and rational agency. Although some believe it is impossible to reconstruct Marxism in this way, many Marxists today accept that Cohen's work presents a landmark in the (re)interpretation of Marx's philosophy.
In reality, the approach used by the group of scholars who are known as Analytical Marxists draws only in part on neoclassical models. What truly distinguishes Analytical Marxism from many past 'Marxisms' is its rejection of the holistic
methodology. That is, 'Analytical Marxists' do not believe that classes or any other entities should be seen as acting in a way that is not the result of the actions of the individuals that make up that entity. Analytical Marxists, generally speaking, do not agree with the rational man/homo economicus premise of neo-classical economics (although they sometimes use this premise as a tool, not a description of a reality) but do otherwise tend to agree with mainstream methodology.
AM and RCM challenge bourgeois theory on its own terms. Human rationality is potentially very good starting point for criticizing capitalism, but not the only one. Like many 'analytical Marxists', Cohen has turned his attention towards the concepts of justice, equality and exploitation in his more recent works.
Labour Party
member, the interviewer asked why he would not just give the Labour Party enough money to wipe out its debts? The question was not even taken seriously.
Cohen argued in other sections of this book that it is, and has been, unwise for Marxists to avoid normative political philosophy. Socialists are no longer justified in believing that socialism is inevitable, and should focus on trying to argue that it is desirable and/or required by justice.
In "History, Labour, and Freedom", Cohen studied the problem of freedom in a capitalist society. He came to the conclusion that although the proletarian is individually free to leave the working class, they are not so collectively. “I want to rise with my class, not above my class!”, is his slogan for the working class. In a different but related argument against the common equation of capitalism with unrestricted freedom, Cohen demonstrates that the 'free' market restrains the liberty of some in order to create liberties for others. The reason for this is that private ownership of a commodity
presupposes non-ownership of that thing by everyone else. If I own something I am free to use that thing, while others are deprived of the freedom to use that thing. If 'my' yard was owned in common in some way (e.g. it was a park) then you could use it as a place to rest or gather. But as things stand right now if you tried to rest on my private property, you would be breaking the law, and I could call the police and have you removed. Cohen also asserts that, "Jesus would have been right to spurn" Rawls' difference principle.
's swingeing tax cuts of 1988, for instance (by Rawlsian liberals as well as by the right) was that, as well as benefiting the already wealthy, they ultimately benefited society as a whole. For (went the claim) they offered the sort of economic incentives that are unavoidably required if talented, productive people are to produce more – more, that is, than they would without these incentives.
But such claims, said Cohen, seem inconsistent with both liberal and libertarian beliefs in personal moral choice, ludicrously echoing Marxist notions of historical forces and naturalistic inevitability. They confuse the relationship between facts and moral principles, especially if used by the talented people, who are surely not entitled to adopt this "third person", almost biological, view of themselves. Consider, said Cohen, the argument that parents ought to pay a kidnapper's ransom, because otherwise the kidnapper would not return their child: this argument can be innocently put forward by anyone – except the kidnapper, who (though unlikely to be bothered by that) is on a different footing to anyone else since he is talking about himself and what he will do, rather than predicting someone else's action.
The incentives argument has in common with the kidnapper argument that it cannot without oddity be used in the first-person case. It fails "the interpersonal test", which requires of a moral justification that the identity of anyone proposing it be irrelevant. As a policy, economic incentivising is a pragmatic compromise, not a principle of justice, and talented people who hold out for greater rewards instead of lending their talents to a higher equal distribution, are in fact acting against justice. "The flesh may be weak, but one should not make a principle out of that," said Cohen.
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
political philosopher
Political philosophy
Political philosophy is the study of such topics as liberty, justice, property, rights, law, and the enforcement of a legal code by authority: what they are, why they are needed, what, if anything, makes a government legitimate, what rights and freedoms it should protect and why, what form it...
, formerly Visiting Quain Professor of Jurisprudence
Quain Professor
Quain Professor is the professorship title for certain disciplines at University College, London, England. The title is derived from Richard Quain who became professor of anatomy in 1832 at what was to become UCL...
, University College, London and Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory
Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory
The Chichele professorial chair in social and political theory is one of the statutory Chichele Professorships at All Souls College, Oxford. This Chair was established 1944.-Chichele Professors of Social and Political Theory:* G. D. H...
, All Souls College, Oxford
All Souls College, Oxford
The Warden and the College of the Souls of all Faithful People deceased in the University of Oxford or All Souls College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England....
. Born into a communist Jewish family in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Cohen was educated at McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
, Canada (BA, philosophy and political science) and the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
(BPhil, philosophy) where he studied under Isaiah Berlin
Isaiah Berlin
Sir Isaiah Berlin OM, FBA was a British social and political theorist, philosopher and historian of ideas of Russian-Jewish origin, regarded as one of the leading thinkers of the twentieth century and a dominant liberal scholar of his generation...
and Gilbert Ryle
Gilbert Ryle
Gilbert Ryle , was a British philosopher, a representative of the generation of British ordinary language philosophers that shared Wittgenstein's approach to philosophical problems, and is principally known for his critique of Cartesian dualism, for which he coined the phrase "the ghost in the...
.
Cohen was formerly 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. It was at University College, London that Cohen became the founder of Analytical Marxism
Analytical Marxism
Analytical Marxism refers to a particular Marxist approach that was prominent amongst English-speaking philosophers and social scientists during the 1980s. It was mainly associated with the September Group of academics, so called because of their biennial September meetings to discuss common...
. Several of his former students, such as Alan Carter
Alan Carter (philosopher)
Alan Brian Carter is the Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Glasgow.He earned a BA at the University of Kent at Canterbury, an MA at the University of Sussex and a DPhil at St Cross College at the University of Oxford.Carter's first academic position was Lecturer in Political...
, Will Kymlicka
Will Kymlicka
Will Kymlicka is a Canadian political philosopher best known for his work on multiculturalism. He is currently Professor of Philosophy and Canada Research Chair in Political Philosophy at Queen's University at Kingston, and Recurrent Visiting Professor in the Nationalism Studies program at the...
, John McMurtry
John McMurtry
John McMurtry, PhD, FRSC, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Guelph, Canada. Most recently, he has focused his research on the value structure of economic theory and its consequences for global civil and environmental life...
, David Leopold, Michael Otsuka
Michael Otsuka
Michael Otsuka is Professor of Philosophy at University College London. He previously taught at UCLA and the University of Colorado. He has written extensively in political philosophy on topics such as equality and left-libertarianism...
, and Jonathan Wolff have gone on to be important political philosophers in their own right.
Known as a proponent of Analytical Marxism
Analytical Marxism
Analytical Marxism refers to a particular Marxist approach that was prominent amongst English-speaking philosophers and social scientists during the 1980s. It was mainly associated with the September Group of academics, so called because of their biennial September meetings to discuss common...
and a founding member of the September Group, Cohen's 1978 work Karl Marx's Theory of History: A Defence
Karl Marx's Theory of History: A Defence
Karl Marx's Theory of History: A Defence is a 1978 book by Gerald Cohen, considered a groundbreaking reinterpretation of the Marxist doctrine of historical materialism...
defends an old-fashioned interpretation of Marx's
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
historical materialism
Historical materialism
Historical materialism is a methodological approach to the study of society, economics, and history, first articulated by Karl Marx as "the materialist conception of history". Historical materialism looks for the causes of developments and changes in human society in the means by which humans...
often referred to as 'economic determinism
Economic determinism
Economic determinism is the theory which attributes primacy to the economic structure over politics in the development of human history. It is usually associated with the theories of Karl Marx, although many Marxist thinkers have dismissed plain and unilateral economic determinism as a form of...
' or 'technological determinism
Technological determinism
Technological determinism is a reductionist theory that presumes that a society's technology drives the development of its social structure and cultural values. The term is believed to have been coined by Thorstein Veblen , an American sociologist...
' by its critics. In Self-Ownership, Freedom, and Equality, Cohen offers an extensive moral argument in favour of socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
, contrasting his views with those of John Rawls
John Rawls
John Bordley Rawls was an American philosopher and a leading figure in moral and political philosophy. He held the James Bryant Conant University Professorship at Harvard University....
and Robert Nozick
Robert Nozick
Robert Nozick was an American political philosopher, most prominent in the 1970s and 1980s. He was a professor at Harvard University. He is best known for his book Anarchy, State, and Utopia , a right-libertarian answer to John Rawls's A Theory of Justice...
, 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
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
. In If You're an Egalitarian, How Come You're So Rich? (which covers the topic of his Gifford Lectures
Gifford Lectures
The Gifford Lectures were established by the will of Adam Lord Gifford . They were established to "promote and diffuse the study of Natural Theology in the widest sense of the term — in other words, the knowledge of God." The term natural theology as used by Gifford means theology supported...
) Cohen addresses the question of what egalitarian political principles imply for the personal behaviour of those who subscribe to them.
Karl Marx's Theory of History: A Defence
Historical materialism
Historical materialism is a methodological approach to the study of society, economics, and history, first articulated by Karl Marx as "the materialist conception of history". Historical materialism looks for the causes of developments and changes in human society in the means by which humans...
. It has introduced historical materialism as a reliable theory to English language social texts. He uses the techniques of modern analytic philosophy
Analytic philosophy
Analytic philosophy is a generic term for a style of philosophy that came to dominate English-speaking countries in the 20th century...
to construct Marx’s theory of history in a language familiar to liberal and “bourgeois” social theory
Social theory
Social theories are theoretical frameworks which are used to study and interpret social phenomena within a particular school of thought. An essential tool used by social scientists, theories relate to historical debates over the most valid and reliable methodologies , as well as the primacy of...
. The book is sometimes considered to be the first in a school of thought that explores and attempts to reconstruct Marxism using the tools of Anglo-American analytical philosophy and social science, which later came to be known as "Analytical Marxism
Analytical Marxism
Analytical Marxism refers to a particular Marxist approach that was prominent amongst English-speaking philosophers and social scientists during the 1980s. It was mainly associated with the September Group of academics, so called because of their biennial September meetings to discuss common...
".
Cohen’s theory was very orthodox in conclusions but its language, premises and method were not traditionally employed by Marxists. It was congenial to the rigorous tools used in 1970's social science, as well as the logical and linguistic analysis used in contemporary philosophy.
Analytical Marxism is sometimes called "Rational Choice Marxism", although not all of its proponents affirm, or need affirm, a form of rational choice. According to some, RCM means that all economical and political action and theories should be explained by the action of not just any individuals but by the actions of a certain individual capable of choice and rational agency. Although some believe it is impossible to reconstruct Marxism in this way, many Marxists today accept that Cohen's work presents a landmark in the (re)interpretation of Marx's philosophy.
In reality, the approach used by the group of scholars who are known as Analytical Marxists draws only in part on neoclassical models. What truly distinguishes Analytical Marxism from many past 'Marxisms' is its rejection of the holistic
Holism
Holism is the idea that all the properties of a given system cannot be determined or explained by its component parts alone...
methodology. That is, 'Analytical Marxists' do not believe that classes or any other entities should be seen as acting in a way that is not the result of the actions of the individuals that make up that entity. Analytical Marxists, generally speaking, do not agree with the rational man/homo economicus premise of neo-classical economics (although they sometimes use this premise as a tool, not a description of a reality) but do otherwise tend to agree with mainstream methodology.
AM and RCM challenge bourgeois theory on its own terms. Human rationality is potentially very good starting point for criticizing capitalism, but not the only one. Like many 'analytical Marxists', Cohen has turned his attention towards the concepts of justice, equality and exploitation in his more recent works.
If You're an Egalitarian, How Come You're So Rich?
Cohen asked, in his book of the same name, If you're an egalitarian how come you're so rich? The role of morality in traditional Marxism is debatable. However, using the tools of contemporary analysis above led Cohen (and other Analytical Marxists) towards liberal egalitarianism. In this book, Cohen argued that while liberal egalitarianism might express the correct principles of justice, it arbitrarily and inconsistently limits the scope of those principles. Not only do those principles apply to the rules that define the structure of society (i.e. laws), they also apply to personal behavior. Put differently, liberals such as Rawls have traditionally implicitly or explicitly accepted that inequality-generating incentives (i.e. those not required to compensate for extra burdens e.g. extra stress) are just if they are necessary to benefit those who are less fortunate. Cohen argues that these kinds of inequalities would not be necessary if people were truly committed to the principles of egalitarianism. The 'talented' should be willing to exercise their talents without extra and unequal rewards. People have to make moral choices in their daily lives. He gives an example of how, in the 1970s, in an interview with a very richLabour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
member, the interviewer asked why he would not just give the Labour Party enough money to wipe out its debts? The question was not even taken seriously.
Cohen argued in other sections of this book that it is, and has been, unwise for Marxists to avoid normative political philosophy. Socialists are no longer justified in believing that socialism is inevitable, and should focus on trying to argue that it is desirable and/or required by justice.
In "History, Labour, and Freedom", Cohen studied the problem of freedom in a capitalist society. He came to the conclusion that although the proletarian is individually free to leave the working class, they are not so collectively. “I want to rise with my class, not above my class!”, is his slogan for the working class. In a different but related argument against the common equation of capitalism with unrestricted freedom, Cohen demonstrates that the 'free' market restrains the liberty of some in order to create liberties for others. The reason for this is that private ownership of a commodity
Commodity
In economics, a commodity is the generic term for any marketable item produced to satisfy wants or needs. Economic commodities comprise goods and services....
presupposes non-ownership of that thing by everyone else. If I own something I am free to use that thing, while others are deprived of the freedom to use that thing. If 'my' yard was owned in common in some way (e.g. it was a park) then you could use it as a place to rest or gather. But as things stand right now if you tried to rest on my private property, you would be breaking the law, and I could call the police and have you removed. Cohen also asserts that, "Jesus would have been right to spurn" Rawls' difference principle.
Rescuing Justice and Equality
In the book, Cohen attacked Rawls's "difference principle". Agreeing with Rawls that it would be absurd to insist on equality per se if unequal distribution could actually improve the lot of the worse-off, he criticised the unprincipled way in which this principle was actually applied. The justification of Nigel LawsonNigel Lawson
Nigel Lawson, Baron Lawson of Blaby, PC , is a British Conservative politician and journalist. He was a Member of Parliament representing the constituency of Blaby from 1974–92, and served as the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the government of Margaret Thatcher from June 1983 to October 1989...
's swingeing tax cuts of 1988, for instance (by Rawlsian liberals as well as by the right) was that, as well as benefiting the already wealthy, they ultimately benefited society as a whole. For (went the claim) they offered the sort of economic incentives that are unavoidably required if talented, productive people are to produce more – more, that is, than they would without these incentives.
But such claims, said Cohen, seem inconsistent with both liberal and libertarian beliefs in personal moral choice, ludicrously echoing Marxist notions of historical forces and naturalistic inevitability. They confuse the relationship between facts and moral principles, especially if used by the talented people, who are surely not entitled to adopt this "third person", almost biological, view of themselves. Consider, said Cohen, the argument that parents ought to pay a kidnapper's ransom, because otherwise the kidnapper would not return their child: this argument can be innocently put forward by anyone – except the kidnapper, who (though unlikely to be bothered by that) is on a different footing to anyone else since he is talking about himself and what he will do, rather than predicting someone else's action.
The incentives argument has in common with the kidnapper argument that it cannot without oddity be used in the first-person case. It fails "the interpersonal test", which requires of a moral justification that the identity of anyone proposing it be irrelevant. As a policy, economic incentivising is a pragmatic compromise, not a principle of justice, and talented people who hold out for greater rewards instead of lending their talents to a higher equal distribution, are in fact acting against justice. "The flesh may be weak, but one should not make a principle out of that," said Cohen.
Works
- Karl Marx's Theory of History: A Defence (1978, 2000)
- History, Labour, and Freedom (1988)
- Self-Ownership, Freedom, and Equality (1995)
- If You're an Egalitarian, How Come You're So Rich? (2000)
- Rescuing Justice and Equality (2008)
- Why Not Socialism? (2009) [Trad. esp.: ¿Por qué no el socialismo?, Buenos Aires/Madrid, Katz editores, 2011, ISBN 9788492946136]
- On the Currency of Egalitarian Justice, and Other Essays in Political Philosophy (2011)
Further reading
- The Egalitarian Conscience: Essays in Honour of G. A. Cohen (2006); edited by Christine Sypnowich
External links
- Imprints interview
- Cohen's Tanner Lectures: "Incentives, Inequality, and Community"
- Cohen interview at Philosophy Bites (mp3 audio)
- Obituary to Gerald Cohen at The Third Estate
- Obituary in The Monthly Review
- Obituary in The Times
- Obituary in The Guardian
- Obituary in The Independent
- Remembering Jerry Cohen: A Tribute in Socialist Worker
- Review of Why Not Socialism? in The Oxonian Review
- Journal of Ethics volume for Jerry Cohen
- Cohen Against Capitalism on Channel 4