Alix Cohen

Alix Cohen is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh, affiliated with the School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences. She previously held roles including Head of Philosophy and Deputy Head of Philosophy at Edinburgh, and has been a Humboldt Fellow at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. Her research focuses on Kant’s philosophy, particularly his views on emotions, epistemic normativity, anthropology, and biology. Cohen’s work bridges historical and contemporary philosophy, emphasizing the role of feelings in cognition, ethics, and aesthetics. She has authored and edited numerous books and articles, including Kant on the Human Sciences: Biology, Anthropology and History and Thinking about the Emotions: A Philosophical History.

Her academic contributions include influential analyses of Kant’s theories on moral agency, aesthetic judgment, and the human sciences. Cohen’s recent publications explore epistemic autonomy, doxastic agency, and the interplay between Kantian philosophy and Stoicism. She currently supervises PhD student Lorenzo Spagnesi and serves on editorial boards for journals like the British Journal for the History of Philosophy and Philosophical Quarterly. Notable awards include the 2004 Teorema Essay Prize and recognition in the British Journal for the History of Philosophy’s Editor’s Choice Collection.

Cohen teaches courses on Kant’s Critical Philosophy and the philosophy of education, emphasizing the cultivation of rationality and moral sensibility. Her interdisciplinary approach integrates historical, ethical, and epistemological dimensions of Kant’s thought, making significant contributions to both Kant scholarship and broader philosophical debates.