The Arc of the Moral Universe and Other Essays

Joshua Cohen is one of the best political philosophers in America, as well as one of the best essay writers. He studied with John Rawls during the 1960s and since then, like his teacher, has dared to provide an ideal of democracy to be the guide for political thought rather than the minimalist account that many thinkers seem to believe is the best they can do. These essays, written over the past 20 years, are widely recognized by philosophers and political theorists as major and sometimes defining papers in their fields. The majority of them are essays on democracy and justice, or they discuss major ideas or figures (Locke, Rousseau, Rawls, Habermas) within the liberal and democratic traditions of social and political thought. However, many of these essays are published in obscure editions or journals and some have never been published at all, which makes them hard to find even for the most determined scholar. By gathering these seminal insights into one volume, Harvard Press is performing a valuable service to the community of philosophers and political theorists. Not only does The Arc of the Moral Universe and Other Essays showcase a brilliant theorist whose influence is only going to grow, it also continues the legacy of John Rawls at Harvard University Press.