Dr. Ari Kohen

Dr. Kohen teaches political philosophy at the undergraduate and graduate levels. His research focuses principally on classical and on contemporary political thought. His first book examined the philosophical grounding of the idea of human rights; his current book project looks at the ways in which we think about heroic behavior and the most choice-worthy lives.

He's an admitted pop culture and technology fiend. On campus and around town, you’ll almost always see him wearing earbuds or catching up with the latest news via Twitter on his iPhone. But just because he's posting something to his blog or listening to the latest philosophy podcast, that doesn't mean you shouldn't say hello.

Research Areas

• Contemporary and Ancient Political Theory
• Human Rights
• Ethnic and Intrastate Conflict
• Restorative and Transitional Justice

Current Research

• Book-length project, Untangling Heroism
• Articles on restorative justice and on technology and democracy

Awards & Accomplishments

• 2006 Irmgard Coninx Research Prize, a three-month fellowship at the Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung
• College Distinguished Teaching Award, 2011
• In Defense of Human Rights, published by Routledge in 2007
• Articles in Human Rights Review, Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, Journal of Human Rights, Polis, and Social Justice Research

Recent Publications

• Kohen, Ari. 2011. “Plato’s Philosophic Vision: The Difficult Choices of the Socratic Life.” 28 Polis 1
  (Spring).
  “Plato’s Philosophic Vision: The Difficult Choices of the Socratic Life.” 28 Polis 1.
• “A Non-Religious Basis for the Idea of Human Rights: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights as Overlapping Consensus” in 
•  
• The International Handbook of Human Rights 
ed. Thomas Cushman (New York: Routledge).
• “An Overlapping Consensus on Human Rights and Human Dignity” in  Human Rights: Crtiitical Dialogues ed. Mark Goodale (New York: Oxford).

Career Highlights

• Ph.D., Duke University, 2004
• Joined UNL Faculty 2007