Laurence Jonathan Cohen

Background

Laurence Jonathan Cohen, one of two sons of Israel Cohen and Theresa Jacobs, was born on May 7, 1923 in London. His parents were orthodox Jews who were active in the World Zionist Movement.

Education

He was educated at Saint Paul"s School where he excelled at mathematics and classics. He won a scholarship to Balliol College, Oxford, where he read Greats and began to develop his lifelong interest in philosophy. But his studies were interrupted by the second world war.

Career

After the graduation Cohen worked as an assistant in the Department of Logic and Metaphysics of Edinburgh Univerisity. This was followed by teaching at University of St. Andrews at Dundee. His academic career included visiting appointments at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Columbia University, Yale University, Northwestern Law School, the Australian National University and Bristol University.

In 1973, he became general editor of the Clarendon Library of Logic and Philosophy. Cohen authored eight books and co-edited two, in addition to almost 150 professional articles.

His national and international standing was reflected in numerous professional appointments. He was president of the International Union for History and Philosophy of Science; secretary general of the International Council of Scientific Unions; and president of the British Society for the Philosophy of Science. He also served on the British national committee for logic, methodology, and philosophy of science, as well as committees of the British Academy.

Achievements

• Jonathan Cohen was a fellow of the Queen's College Oxford (1957-90) and of the British Academy. He was also a polymath whose contributions across epistemology, logic, the philosophy of law, language, psychology, and science continue to have an impact well beyond those fields.

Works

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  • The Diversity of Meaning (Routledge Revivals)

    (First published in 1962, The Diversity of Meaning was wri...)

    1962
  • An Introduction to the Philosophy of Induction and Probability

    (Two new philosophical problems surrounding the gradation ...)

    1989
  • The Dialogue of Reason: An Analysis of Analytical Philosophy

    (Johnathan Cohen's book provides a lucid and penetrating t...)

    1988
  • The Probable and the Provable (Clarendon Library of Logic and Philosophy)

    (The book was planned and written as a single, sustained a...)

    1977
  • The Implications of Induction (Routledge Library Editions: Logic Book 5)

    (Originally published in 1973. This book presents a valid ...)

    1970
  • Essays on Logic and Language (First Series Philosophy)

    ( )

  • The Principles of World Citizenship 1954

Religion

He maintained an abiding commitment to Judaism, though more cultural, personal, and social, than religious.

Views

Cohen opposed the arresting thesis that it is duty, not charity, for each of us who are well off to donate as much of our income or wealth as we have, until we descend to a comparable level of deprivation. He argued that since our duties to others are to be shared, rather than falling on each of us individually, the burden is distributed and so lessened, while still raising up those in desperate need.

Cohen's career started in the heyday of what is referred to as ordinary language - or Oxford - philosophy, and though he dabbled in it, he maintained a critical distance. He found its proponents' offerings, though focused on the analysis of language, to suffer surprising naivety, reflecting indifference, if not hostility, to linguistics and formal logic.

Personality

He relished philosophical argument, which, despite its intensity, he never turned personal. He was moderate, good humoured, gentlemanly, without stuffiness or conceit, and with an uncommonly balanced perspective on the academic world and its pretensions.

Interests

• Gardening.

Connections

He married Gillian M. Slee in 1953, the couple had 3 sons and a daughter.

Father:

Israel Cohen

Mother:

Theresa Cohen

Spouse:

Gillian M. Slee