Faculty

Marshall Cohen’s academic interests are jurisprudence; moral, legal and political philosophy; and the philosophy of art.

Cohen has written on a broad number of topics relating to his areas of study, including Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings, 6^th ed. (Oxford University Press, 2004), Punishment (edited with A. J. Simmons, J. Cohen and C. Beitz, Princeton University Press, 1995), and Ronald Dworkin and Contemporary Jurisprudence (Rowman & Littlefield, 1984).

Cohen completed his undergraduate studies at Dartmouth College and earned two masters degrees, from Harvard University and Oxford University. A widely respected scholar and professor, he taught at a number of universities, including Yale University and the University of Chicago, before joining the USC Gould School of Law faculty and being named Dean of Humanities at USC in 1983. Cohen is founding editor of the journal Philosophy and Public Affairs and is Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of the American Council of Learned Societies.

Books

• Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings, ed. with Gerald Mast (Oxford) 1974, Second edition, 1979, Third edition, 1985. Fourth edition (with Leo Braudy) 1992, Fifth edition, 1999, Sixth edition, 2004, Seventh edition 2009, Eight edition, 2016 (Oxford University Press).
• Punishment (edited with A.J. Simmons, J. Cohen and C. Beitz) (Princeton University Press, 1995).
• International Ethics (edited with C. Beitz, T. Scanlon and A.J. Simmons) (Princeton University Press, 1985).
• Ronald Dworkin and Contemporary Jurisprudence (edited and with a preface) (Duckworth, and Rowman & Allanheld, 1984).
• What Is Dance?: Readings in Theory and Criticism (edited with Roger Copeland) (Oxford University Press, 1983).
• Medicine and Moral Philosophy (edited with T. Nagel and T. Scanlon) (Princeton University Press, 1982).
• Marx, Justice and History (edited with T. Nagel and T. Scanlon) (Princeton University Press, 1980).
• Equality and Preferential Treatment (edited with T. Nagel and T. Scanlon) (Princeton University Press, 1977).
• The Rights and Wrongs of Abortion (edited with T. Nagel and T. Scanlon) (Princeton University Press, 1974).
• War and Moral Responsibility (edited with T. Nagel and T. Scanlon) (Princeton University Press, 1974).
• The Philosophy of John Stuart Mill (ed. and with an introduction) (Modern Library, 1961).

Articles and Book Chapters

• "Law and Force." In Proceedings of the IVR World Congress (Stuttgart, Germany: The Conference, 1987).
• "Moral Skepticism and International Relations." 13(4) Philosophy and Public Affairs 299 (1984); reprinted in International Ethics (C. Beitz et al., eds.) (Princeton University Press, 1985); in part in Political Realism and International Morality: International Ethics in the Nuclear Age (D. Meyers and K. Kipnis, eds.) (Westview Press, 1987); slightly revised in Doxa (Barcelona, 1987).
• "Toward a Liberal Foreign Policy." In Liberalism Reconsidered (D. MacLean and C. Mills, eds.) (Rowman & Allenheld, 1983).
• "Primitivism, Modernism, and Dance Theory." In Philosophical Essays on Dance (G. Myers and G. Francher, ed.) (Dance Horizon, 1981); reprinted in 9(3) Ballet Review 41 (1981); and in What is Dance? (R. Copeland and M. Cohen, eds.) (Oxford University Press, 1983).
• "The Morality of Military Intervention." In War and Morality (West Point: U.S. Military Academy, 1980).
• "Dialogue: Morality vs. Real Politik" (with Robert E. Osgood). 1(3) Humanities 6 (1980); reprinted in Transaction.
• "Equality and Efficiency: Commentary." In Income Distribution (C. Campbell, ed.) (American Enterprise Institute, 1977).
• "Film and the University" (edited with G. Mast): Published in Conference Proceedings. 2 Quarterly Review of Film Studies, nos. 1, 2, 3, (1976-77).
• "Humanism and Modernism." 1 Humanities and Society 1 (March 1977).
• "Morality and the Laws of War." In Philosophy, Morality and International Conflict (V. Held, S. Morgenbesser and T. Nagel, eds.) (Oxford University Press, 1974).
• "Liberalism and Disobedience." 1 Philosophy and Public Affairs 283 (1972).
• "Notes on Modernist Art." 3 New Literary History 215 (1971).
• "Taylor's Conception of the Laws of War." 80 Yale Law Journal 1492 (1971). - (Hein)
• "Civil Disobedience." In The Great Ideas Today, 1971 (R.M. Hutchins and M. J. Adler, eds.) (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1971).
• "Lear and Nature." 1 Philosophic Exchange 83 (1970).

FACULTY IN THE NEWS

Inverse
April 20, 2018
Re: Jody David Armour

Jody Armour was quoted about the racist enforcement of marijuana-related crimes. “The 4/20 celebrations should be tempered by a sober recognition that many disproportionately black lives have been sacrificed on the altar of a failed drug war that was racist at its inception and in its execution,” Armour said. “More than just a day of celebration, 4/20 should be a day of reckoning in which liberal and progressive politicians are called out for their many years of support for a racist and wasteful war on drugs.”

RECENT SCHOLARSHIP

Robert K. Rasmussen
January, 2018

"Puerto Rico and the Netherworld of Sovereign Debt Restructuring," Workshop, Duke Law School, Durham, NC. 

Edward Kleinbard
January, 2018

"The Right Tax at the Right Time," Florida Tax Review 21 (2017): 208.

Edward Kleinbard
January, 2018

“The Perversion of the Tax Policy Process,” Keynote Address at the USC Tax Institute, Los Angeles, CA.