Joseph Cohen (philosopher)

Joseph Cohen
Born	12 August 1971 (1971-08-12) (age 53)
Occupation	philosopher
Notable work	L'Adversaire privilégié

Joseph Cohen, born 12 August 1971, is a French philosopher.

He primarily works on German Idealism and Phenomenology, as well as contemporary European philosophical thought.

He is a professor of contemporary philosophy at University College Dublin and a founding member and secretary of the Irish Phenomenological Circle.

Biography

In 1994, he earned a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from York University, Toronto, and the following year, a Master's in Philosophy under the supervision of Bernard Bourgeois at the University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne.

In 1996, he obtained a diploma in advanced studies in the history of philosophy under Bernard Bourgeois (University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne), and in 1997, he received a second diploma in advanced studies in philosophy and epistemology under Jacques Derrida (EHESS).

In 2001, under the supervision of Hans-Georg Gadamer and Reiner Wiehl, he joined the Philosophisches Seminar at the University of Heidelberg before defending his doctoral thesis in philosophy in 2002, co-supervised by Robert Legros (University of Caen) and Jacques Derrida (EHESS).

In 2003, he became a post-doctoral researcher at the Department of Philosophy at the University of Strasbourg and from 2004 to 2010, he was a program director at the Collège international de philosophie.

At the University of Strasbourg, he founded the research unit “Phenomenology, Hermeneutics, and Deconstruction” from 2003 to 2005. In June 2004, he hosted Jacques Derrida in Strasbourg and coordinated what would be the philosopher's last lecture in France, as well as a doctoral study day that concluded with what would turn out to be the last dialogue between Jean-Luc Nancy, Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe, and Jacques Derrida.

In Strasbourg, he also worked within the Parliament of Philosophers (Strasbourg) where he, in collaboration with Gérard Bensussan, coordinated the conference "Heidegger: The Danger and the Promise."

He served on the editorial board of the journal Rue Descartes (PUF) from 2004 to 2008, of the journal Les Temps modernes (Éditions Gallimard) from 2009 to 2014, and of the journal Cités (PUF) from 2010 to 2015. He was also a statutory member of the research team PHILéPOL at the University of Paris-Descartes from 2010 to 2015.

In 2015, he founded the Rencontres Philosophiques de Monaco in collaboration with Charlotte Casiraghi, Robert Maggiori, and Raphael Zagury-Orly.

From September 2015 to August 2016, he was a research fellow in philosophy at the Heidelberg Centre for Transcultural Studies (Karl Jaspers Centre) at the University of Heidelberg.

In 2016, he re-established and relaunched, with Raphael Zagury-Orly and the Foundation of French Judaism, the Colloquium of French-speaking Jewish Intellectuals, and in 2017, the "René Cassin Seminar."

In 2018, he founded, with Alain Fleischer (Le Fresnoy National Studio) and Raphael Zagury-Orly, the interdisciplinary research group "The Coming Human."

In 2020, he founded the project "Jewish Thought and Contemporary Philosophy" as part of the University College Dublin "Newman Centre for the Study of Religions." This project is the first research and higher education seminar on Jewish thought in Ireland.

He has been a visiting professor of philosophy at several European universities:

• In 2005 at the University of Stuttgart
• In 2010 and 2011 at the University of Sassari, Sardinia
• In 2011 at the University of Freiburg
• From 2011 to 2014 at the University of Paris IV-Sorbonne
• From 2005 to 2007 and from 2013 to 2015 at the Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung in Karlsruhe
• In 2016 at the University of Poitiers
• In 2016 at the Sapienza University of Rome
• In 2019 at the University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne
• In 2019 at the University of Rome "La Sapienza"
• In 2022 at the University of Rome "La Sapienza"
• In 2022 at the University of Paris IV-Sorbonne
• In 2023 at the University of Rome "La Sapienza"
• In 2023 at the University Vita-Salute San Raffaele (Milan)
• In 2024 at the University of Rome "La Sapienza"

Distinctions

• 2012: Knight of the Order of Academic Palms
• 2018: Recipient of the Special Prize 2018 from the French Committee of the International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists

Publications

Books

• Judéités. Questions pour Jacques Derrida (co-edited with Raphael Zagury-Orly), Paris, Éditions Galilée, 2003.
• Le Spectre juif de Hegel, Paris, Éditions Galilée, 2005.
• Heidegger: The Danger and the Promise (co-edited with Gérard Bensussan), Paris, Kimé, 2006.
• Le Sacrifice de Hegel, Paris, Éditions Galilée, 2007.
• Alternances de la métaphysique: Essais sur Levinas, Paris, Éditions Galilée, 2009.
• The Husserl Dictionary (co-edited with Dermot Moran), London, Continuum - Bloomsbury, 2012.
• L'Adversaire privilégié: Heidegger, les Juifs et nous (co-edited with Raphael Zagury-Orly), Paris, Éditions Galilée, 2021.
• To Live and Die in History (co-edited with Raphael Zagury-Orly), Aschaffenburg, Alibri Verlag, 2024.

Special Issues

• Penser avec Jacques Derrida, Rue Descartes, 2006.
• Mélanges de philosophie allemande, Cahiers Philosophiques de Strasbourg, no. 20, Paris, Vrin, 2007.
• Heidegger: Qu'appelle-t-on le lieu? (co-edited with Raphael Zagury-Orly), Les Temps Modernes, no. 650, Paris, Gallimard, 2008.
• Levinas: From Philosophy to the Other, International Journal of Philosophical Studies, Vol. 20, no. 3, London, Routledge, 2012.
• Derrida: L'événement déconstruction (co-edited with Raphael Zagury-Orly), Les Temps Modernes, no. 669–670, Paris, Gallimard, 2012.
• Heidegger et "les juifs" (co-edited with Raphael Zagury-Orly), La Règle du Jeu, no. 58–59, Paris, Grasset, 2015.
• On History (co-edited with Raphael Zagury-Orly), Metodo: International Studies in Phenomenology and Philosophy, Vol. 10(2), Padova, SDVIG Press, June 2023.

Conferences (Direction and Coordination)

• 2000: Judéités. Questions pour Jacques Derrida, Paris Community Center – in collaboration with Raphael Zagury-Orly.
• 2004: Heidegger: The Danger and the Promise, University of Strasbourg – in collaboration with Gérard Bensussan.
• 2007: 200 Years of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit, University of Paris IV and Collège International de Philosophie – in collaboration with Raphael Zagury-Orly.
• 2008: Derrida: Déconstruire, dit-il..., University College Dublin, University of Strasbourg – in collaboration with Raphael Zagury-Orly.
• 2015: Heidegger et "les juifs", Bibliothèque nationale de France, La Règle du Jeu, University College Dublin, University of Strasbourg, PHILéPOL (University Paris-Descartes) – in collaboration with Gérard Bensussan, Hadrien Laroche, and Raphael Zagury-Orly.
• 2020: Où va la philosophie française?, University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Collège International de Philosophie, University College Dublin, Sciences Po Paris, Rencontres Philosophiques de Monaco, and Columbia Global Centres Paris – in collaboration with Isabelle Alfandary, Sandra Laugier, and Raphael Zagury-Orly.
• 2021: On Unpredictability, King Fahad National Library, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Organized by the Saudi Ministry of Culture and in collaboration with SOAS - University of London, Universidad del Norte Este - Argentina, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, University of Nantes, UNESCO.
• 2022: Knowledge and Exploration: Space, Time, Humanity, King Fahad National Library, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Organized by the Saudi Ministry of Culture and in collaboration with the International Federation of Philosophical Societies, SOAS - University of London, Universidad del Norte Este - Argentina, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico.
• 2023: Givenness and Revelation: On Jean Luc Marion, University College Dublin, Ireland. (Under the Auspices of the World Congress of Philosophy - Rome 2024), School of Philosophy - University College Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, Department of Philosophy - Boston College, Newman Centre for the Study of Religions - University College Dublin, Humanities Institute - University College Dublin.
• 2023: Transcultural Values and the Ethical Challenges to the Communicative Age, King Fahad National Library, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Organized by the Saudi Ministry of Culture and in collaboration with the International Federation of Philosophical Societies, Universidad del Norte Este - Argentina, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico.