Martin Cohen

Martin Cohen is a well-established author specializing in popular books in philosophy, social science and politics.His latest book is How to Live: Wise (and not-so-wise) Advice from the Philosophers on Everyday Life.He is best known for his two introductions to philosophy, 101 Philosophy Problems (Routledge 1999, 2001, 2007) and 101 Ethical Dilemmas (Routledge 2002/2007) which despite being originally aimed at the academic market, between them have sold LOTS OF copies and been translated into 20 different languages. He also published an “anti-history” of great philosophers, Philosophical Tales (2008) for Blackwell. His most recent projects include the UK edition of Philosophy for Dummies (Wiley June 2010); Mind Games: 31 days to rediscover your Brain (Blackwell, July 2010) and The Doomsday MachineThe High Price of Nuclear Energy, the World's Most Dangerous Fuel (co-authored with Andrew McKillop). The 'Doomsday Machine' was discussed in the New York Times Green Blog, and bitterly condemned by the New Scientist.A book on Thought Experiments in science and philosophy was well-reviewed despite being entitled (confusingly perhaps!) Wittgenstein's Beetle, (2004) and other more academic books include a mini book on Adam Smith; and a reference guide to philosophy and ethics for Hodder Academic. One of his favorite things is EXPLORING, not in reality but in books, and his anti-travel book No Holiday: 80 Places you DON'T want to visit (Disinformation Press, New York) fits comfortably in that tradition.Martin now writes full-time, but in the past has taught philosophy and social science at a number of universities in the UK and Australia, and was involved in a research project at Leeds University under George MacDonald Ross exploring ways to shift philosophy teaching away from the the mere study of philosophical facts and toward a view of philosophy as an activity. A respected environmentalist, he wrote an influential series of articles in the Times Higher (London) about the politics of the climate change debate and he is 'sometimes'(!) allowed to review philosophy books there. He has written discussion papers on environmental concerns for the European Parliament and been invited by the Chinese government to discuss ecological rights and indigenous communities.He is also the editor of THE PHILOSOPHER, a journal founded in 1923, which counts some of the best known names in Twentieth Century philosophy amongst its contributors. His editorial strategy is to allow as wide a range of ideas as possible a forum in the Journal, and this often prints papers by non-specialists with unusual and original ideas. He is currently based in Aquitaine, France, (down near the Pyrenees) but travels often to the US and UK.